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THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 


TITLES  BY 
THIS  AUTHOR 


The  Heart  of  the  Desert 
Still  Jim 

Lydia  of  the  Pines 
The  Forbidden  Trail 
The  Enchanted  Canyon 
Judith  of  Godless  Valley 
The  Exile  of  the  Lariat 
The  Devonshers 
We  Must  March 


THE 

Enchanted  Canyon 

BY    HONORfi    WILLSIE 


AUTHOR  OF 

"The  Forbidden  Trail"  "Still  Jim"  "The  Heart  of  the 
Desert,"  "Lydia  of  the  Pines"  etc. 


A.  L.  BURT  COMPANY 
Publishers  New  York 

Publilhed  by  arrangement  with  William  Morrow  and   Company,  Inc. 


Copyright,  IQ2I,  by 
HONORS  WILLSIE  MOEHOW 


All  rights  reserved,  including  that  of  translation 
into  foreign  languages 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


CONTENTS 

BOOK  I 

BRIGHT  ANGEL 

CHAPTBB  fAO» 

1     MINETTA  LANE 3 

II     BRIGHT  ANGEL 19 

BOOK  II 

THE  SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR 

III  TWENTY-TWO  YEARS  LATER 57 

IV  DIANA  ALLEN   .  70 

V    A  PHOTOGRAPHER  OF  INDIANS 92 

VI    A  NEWSPAPER  REPORTER no 

BOOK  III 

THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

VII  THE  DESERT 135 

VIII  THE  COLORADO 154 

IX  THE  CLIFF  DWELLING 173 

X  THE  EXPEDITION  BEGINS 191 

XI  THE  PERFECT  ADVENTURE 208 

XII  THE  END  OF  THE  CRUISE 227 

XIII  GRANT'S  CROSSING 246 

XIV  LOVE  IN  THE  DESERT 263 

BOOK  IV 

THE  PHANTASM  DESTROYED 

XV    THE  FIRING  LINE  AGAIN 287 

XVI    CURLY'S  REPORT 306 

XVII     REVENGE  Is  SWEET 323 


BOOK  1 
BRIGHT  ANGEL 


CHAPTER  I 

MINETTA    LANE 

"A  boy  at  fourteen  needs  a  mother  or  the  memory 
of  a  mother  as  he  does  at  no  other  period  of  his  life." 

—  Enoch's  Diary. 

EXCEPT  for  its  few  blocks  that  border  Washington 
Square,  MacDougal  Street  is  about  as  squalid  as  any 
on  New  York's  west  side. 

Once  it  was  aristocratic  enough  for  any  one,  but  that 
was  nearly  a  century  ago.  Alexander  Hamilton's  man 
sion  and  Minetta  Brook  are  less  than  memories  now. 
The  blocks  of  fine  brick  houses  that  covered  Richmond 
Hill  are  given  over  to  Italian  tenements.  Minetta  Brook, 
if  it  sings  at  all,  sings  among  the  sewers  far  below  the 
dirty  pavements. 

But  Minetta  Lane  still  lives,  a  short  alley  that  de 
bouches  on  MacDougal  Street.  Edgar  Allan  Poe  once 
strolled  on  summer  evenings  through  Minetta  Lane  with 
his  beautiful  Annabel  Lee.  But  God  pity  the  sweet 
hearts  to-day  who  must  have  love  in  its  reeking  precincts ! 
It  is  a  lane  of  ugliness,  now ;  a  lane  of  squalor;  a  lane  of 
poverty  and  hopelessness  spelled  in  terms  of  filth  and 
decay. 

About  midway  in  the  Lane  stands  a  two-story,  red 
brick  house  with  an  exquisite  Georgian  doorway.  The 
wrought-iron  handrail  that  borders  the  crumbling  stone 
steps  is  still  intact.  The  steps  usually  are  crowded  with 
dirty,  quarreling  children  and  a  sore-eyed  cat  or  two. 
Nobody  knows  and  nobody  cares  who  built  the  house. 
Enough  that  it  is  now  the  home  of  poverty  and  of  ways 
that  fear  the  open  light  of  day.  Just  when  the  decay  of 
the  old  dwelling  began  there  is  none  to  say.  But  New 
Yorkers  of  middle  age  recall  that  in  their  childhood  the 
Lane  already  had  been  claimed  by  the  slums,  with  the 
Italian  influx  just  beginning. 

3 


4  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

One  winter  afternoon  a  number  of  years  ago  a  boy 
stood  leaning  against  the  iron  newel  post  of  the  old 
house,  smoking  a  cigarette.  He  was  perhaps  fourteen  or 
fifteen  years  of  age,  but  he  might  have  been  either  older 
or  younger.  The  city  gives  even  to  children  a  sophisti 
cated  look  that  baffles  the  casual  psychologist. 

The  children  playing  on  the  steps  behind  the  boy  were 
stocky,  swarthy  Italians.  But  he  was  tall  and  loosely 
built,  with  dark  red  hair  and  hard  blue  eyes.  He  was 
thin  and  raw  boned.  Even  his  smartly  cut  clothes  could 
not  hide  his  extreme  awkwardness  of  body,  his  big  loose 
joints,  his  flat  chest  and  protruding  shoulder  blades. 
His  face,  too,  could  not  have  been  an  Italian  product. 
The  cheek  bones  were  high,  the  cheeks  slightly  hollowed, 
the  nose  and  lips  were  rough  hewn.  The  suave  lines  of 
the  three  little  Latins  behind  him  were  entirely  alien  to 
this  boy's  face. 

It  was  warm  and  thawing  so  that  the  dead  horse 
across  the  street,  with  the  hugely  swollen  body,  threw 
off  an  offensive  odor. 

"  Smells  like  the  good  ol'  summer  time,"  said  the  boy, 
nodding  his  head  toward  the  horse  and  addressing  the 
rag  picker  who  was  pulling  a  burlap  sack  into  the  base 
ment. 

"  Like  ta  getta  da  skin.  No  good  now  though,"  re 
plied  Luigi.  "  You  gotta  da  rent  money,  Nucky  ?  " 

"Got  nuttln',"  Nucky's  voice  was  bitter.  "That 
brown  Liz  you  let  in  last  night  beats  the  devil  shakin' 
dice." 

"  We  owe  three  mont'  now,  Nucky,"  said  the  Italian. 

"  Yes,  and  how  much  trade  have  I  pulled  into  your 
blank  blank  second  floor  for  you  durin'  the  time,  you 
blank  blank!  If  I  hear  any  more  about  the  rent,  I'll 
split  on  you,  you  — " 

But  before  Nucky  could  continue  his  cursing,  the  Italian 
broke  in  with  a  volubility  of  oaths  that  reduced  the  boy 
to  sullen  silence.  Having  eased  his  mind,  Luigi  pro 
ceeded  to  drag  the  sack  into  the  basement  and  slammed 
the  door. 


MINETTA  LANE  5 

"Nucky!  Nucky!  He's  onlucky!"  sang  one  of  the 
small  girls  on  the  crumbling  steps. 

"  You  dry  up,  you  little  alley  cat !  "  roared  the  boy. 

"  You're  just  a  bastard !  "  screamed  the  child,  while 
her  playmates  took  up  the  cry. 

Nucky  lighted  a  fresh  cigarette  and  moved  hurriedly 
up  toward  MacDougal  Street.  Once  having  turned  the 
corner,  he  slackened  his  gait  and  climbed  into  an  empty 
chair  in  the  bootblack  stand  that  stood  in  front  of  the 
Cafe  Roma.  The  bootblack  had  not  finished  the  first 
shoe  when  a  policeman  hoisted  himself  into  the  other 
chair. 

"  How  are  you,  Nucky  ?  "  he  grunted. 

"  All  right,  thanks,"  replied  the  boy,  an  uneasy  look 
softening  his  cold  eyes  for  the  moment. 

"  Didn't  keep  the  job  I  got  yon,  long,"  the  officer  said. 
"  What  was  the  rip  this  time?  " 

"  Aw,  I  ain't  goin'  to  hold  down  no  five-dollar-a-week 
job.  What  do  you  think  I  am?  " 

"  I  think  you  are  a  fool  headed  straight  for  the  devil," 
answered  the  officer  succinctly.  "  Now  listen  to  me, 
Nucky.  I've  knowed  you  ever  since  you  started  into  the 
school  over  there.  I  mind  how  the  teacher  told  me  she 
was  glad  to  see  one  brat  that  looked  like  an  old-fashioned 
American.  And  everything  the  teachers  and  us  guys  at 
the  police  station  could  do  to  keep  you  headed  right, 
we've  done.  But  you  just  won't  have  it.  You've 
growed  up  with  just  the  same  ideas  the  young  toughs 
have  'round  here.  All  you  know  about  earnin'  money 
is  by  gambling."  Nucky  stirred,  but  the  officer  put  out 
his  hand. 

"  Hold  on  now,  fer  I'm  servin'  notice  on  you.  .  You've 
turned  down  every  job  we  got  you.  You  want  to  keep 
on  doing  Luigi's  dirty  work  for  him.  Very  well !  Go 
to  it!  And  the  next  time  we  get  the  goods  on  you, 
you'll  get  the  limit.  So  watch  yourself !  " 

"  Everybody's  against  a  guy !  "  muttered  the  boy. 

"  Everybody's  against  a  fool  that  had  rather  be  crooked 
than  straight,"  returned  the  officer. 


6  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

Nucky,  his  face  sullen,  descended  from  the  chair,  paid 
the  boy  and  headed  up  MacDougal  Street  toward  the 
Square. 

A  tall,  dark  woman,  dressed  in  black  entered  the  Square 
as  Nucky  crossed  from  Fourth  Street.  Nucky  overtook 
her. 

"Are  you  comin'  round  to-night,  Liz?"  he  asked. 

She  looked  at  him  with  liquid  brown  eyes  over  her 
shoulder. 

"Anything  better  there  than  there  was  last  night?" 
she  asked. 

Nucky  nodded  eagerly.  "  You'll  be  surprised  when 
you  see  the  bird  I  got  lined  up." 

Liz  looked  cautiously  round  the  park,  at  the  children 
shouting  on  the  wet  pavements,  at  the  sparrows  quarrel 
ing  in  the  dirty  snow  drifts.  Then  she  started,  ner 
vously,  along  the  path. 

'  There  comes  Foley !  "  she  exclaimed.  "  What's  he 
doin'  off  his  beat?  " 

"  He's  seen  us  now,"  said  Nucky.  "  We  might  as 
well  stand  right  here." 

"Oh,  I  ain't  afraid  of  that  guy!"  Liz  tossed  her 
head.  "  I  got  things  on  him,  all  right." 

"  Why  don't  you  use  'em?  "  Nucky's  voice  was  skep 
tical.  "  He's  going  down  Waverly  Place,  the  blank, 
blank !  " 

Liz  grunted.  "  He's  got  too  much  on  me !  I  ain't 
hopin'  to  start  trouble.  You  go  chase  yourself,  Nucky. 
I'll  be  round  about  midnight." 

Nucky's  chasing  himself  consisted  of  the  purchase  of 
a  newspaper  which  he  read  for  a  few  minutes  in  the 
sunshine  of  the  park.  Even  as  he  sat  on  the  park  bench, 
apparently  absorbed  in  the  paper,  there  was  an  air  of 
sullen  unhappiness  about  the  boy.  Finally,  he  tossed  the 
paper  aside,  and  sat  with  folded  arms,  his  chin  on  his 
breast. 

Officer  Foley,  standing  on  the  corner  of  Washington 
Place  and  MacDougal  Street  waved  a  pleasant  salute  to 


MINETTA  LANE  ? 

a  tall,  gray-haired  man  whose  automobile  drew  up  before 
the  corner  apartment  house. 

"  How  are  you,  Mr.  Seaton?  "  he  asked. 

"  Rather  used  up,  Foley ! "  replied  the  gentleman, 
"  Rather  used  up !  Aren't  you  off  your  beat  ?  " 

The  officer  nodded.  "  Had  business  up  here  and 
started  back.  Then  I  stopped  to  watch  that  red-headed 
kid  over  there."  He  indicated  the  bench  on  which  Nucky 
sat,  all  unconscious  of  the  sharp  eyes  fastened  on  his 
back. 

"  I  see  the  red  hair,  anyway," —  Mr.  Seaton  lighted  a 
cigar  and  puffed  it  slowly.  He  and  Foley  had  been 
friends  during  Seaton's  twenty  years'  residence  on  the 
Square. 

"  I  know  you  ain't  been  keen  on  boys  since  you  lost 
Jack,"  the  officer  said,  slowly,  "  but  —  well,  I  can't  get 
this  young  Nucky  off  my  mind,  blast  the  little  crook !  " 

"  So  he's  a  crook,  is  he?     How  old  is  the  boy?  " 

"  Oh,  'round  fourteen !  He's  as  smart  as  lightning 
and  as  crooked  as  he  is  smart.  He  turned  up  here  when 
he  was  a  little  kid,  with  a  woman  who  may  or  may  not 
have  been  his  mother.  She  lived  with  a  Dago  down  in 
Minetta  Lane.  Guess  the  boy  mighta  been  six  years  old 
when  she  died  and  Luigi  took  him  on.  We  were  all  kind 
of  proud  of  him  at  first.  Teachers  in  school  all  said  he 
was  a  wonder.  But  for  two  or  three  years  he's  beer* 
going  wrong,  stealing  and  gambling,  and  now  this  fellow 
Luigi's  started  a  den  on  his  second  floor  that  we  gott* 
clean  out  soon.  His  rag-picking's  a  stall.  And  he'* 
using  Nucky  like  a  kid  oughtn't  to  be  used." 

"  Why  don't  you  people  have  him  taken  away  from 
the  Italian  and  a  proper  guardian  appointed?  " 

"  Well,  he's  smart  and  we  kinda  hoped  he'd  pull  uj> 
himself.  We  got  a  settlement  worker  interested  in  him 
and  we  got  jobs  for  him,  but  nothing  works.  Judge 
Harmon  swears  he's  out  of  patience  with  him  and'll  send 
him  to  reform  school  at  his  next  offense.  That'll  end 
Nucky.  He'll  be  a  gunman  by  the  time  he's  twenty." 


8  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  You  seem  fond  of  the  boy  in  spite  of  his  criminal 
tendencies,"  said  Seaton. 

"  Aw,  we  all  have  criminal  tendencies,  far  as  that 
goes,"  growled  Foley ;  "  you  and  I  and  all  of  us.  Don't 
know  as  I'm  what  you'd  call  fond  of  the  kid.  Maybe  it's 
his  name.  Yes,  I  guess  it's  his  name.  Now  what  is  your 
wildest  guess  for  that  little  devil's  name,  Mr.  Seaton?  " 

The  gray-haired  man  shook  his  head.  "  Pat  Donahue, 
by  his  hair." 

"  But  not  by  his  face,  if  you  could  see  it.  His  name 
is  Enoch  Huntingdon.  Yes,  sir,  Enoch  Huntingdon! 
What  do  you  think  of  that?  " 

The  astonishment  expressed  in  Seaton's  eyes  was  all 
that  the  officer  could  desire. 

"  Enoch  Huntingdon !  Why,  man,  that  gutter  rat  has 
real  blood  in  him,  if  he  didn't  steal  the  name." 

"  No  kid  ever  stole  such  a  name  as  that,"  said  Foley. 
"  And  for  all  he's  homely  enough  to  stop  traffic,  his  face 
sorta  lives  up  to  his  name.  Want  a  look  at  him  ?  " 

Mr.  Seaton  hesitated.  The  tragic  death  of  his  own 
boy  a  few  years  before  had  left  him  shy  of  all  boys.  But 
his  curiosity  was  roused  and  with  a  sigh  he  nodded. 

Foley  crossed  the  street,  Seaton  following.  As  they 
turned  into  the  Square,  Nucky  saw  them  out  of  the  tail 
of  his  eye.  He  rose,  casually,  but  Foley  forestalled  his 
next  move  by  calling  in  a  voice  that  carried  above  the 
street  noises,  "  Nucky !  Wait  a  moment !  " 

The  boy  stopped  and  stood  waiting  until  the  two  men 
came  up.  Seaton  eyed  the  strongly  hewn  face  while  the 
officer  said,  "  That  person  you  were  with  a  bit  ago, 
Nucky  —  I  don't  think  much  of  her.  Better  cut  her  out." 

"  I  can't  help  folks  talking  to  me,  can  I  ?  "  demanded 
the  boy,  belligerently. 

"  Especially  the  ladies !  "  snorted  Foley.  "  Regular 
village  cut-up,  you  are!  Well,  just  mind  what  I  say," 
and  he  strolled  on,  followed  by  Seaton. 

"  He'll  never  be  hung  for  his  beauty,"  said  Seaton. 
"  But,  Foley,  I'll  wager  you'll  find  that  lad  breeds  back 
to  Plymouth  Rock  1  " 


MINETTA  LANE  9 

Foley  nodded.  "  Thought  you'd  be  interested.  Every 
man  who's  seen  him  is.  But  there's  nothing  doing. 
Nucky  is  a  hard  pill." 

"  Maybe  he  needs  a  woman's  hand,"  suggested  Seaton. 
"  Sometimes  these  hard  characters  are  clay  with  the  right 
kind  of  a  woman." 

"  Or  the  wrong  kind,"  grunted  the  officer. 

"  No,  the  right  kind,"  insisted  Mr.  Seaton.  "  I'm  tell 
ing  you,  Foley,  a  good  woman  is  the  profoundest  influ 
ence  a  man  can  have.  There's  a  deep  within  him  he 
never  gives  over  to  a  bad  woman." 

Foley's  keen  gray  eyes  suddenly  softened.  He  looked 
for  a  moment  above  the  tree  tops  to  the  clouds  sail 
ing  across  the  blue.  "  I  guess  you're  right,  Mr. 
Seaton,"  he  said.  "I  guess  you're  right!  Well,  poor 
Nucky!  And  I  must  be  getting  back.  Good  day,  Mr. 
Seaton." 

"Good  day,  Foley!" 

And  Nucky,  staring  curiously  from  the  Square,  saw 
the  apartment  house  door  close  on  the  tall,  well-dressed 
stranger,  and  saw  a  taxi-cab  driver  offer  a  lift  to  his 
ancient  enemy,  Officer  Foley. 

"  Thinks  he's  smart,  don't  he !  "  he  muttered  aloud, 
starting  slowly  back  toward  the  Cafe  Roma.  "  I  wonder 
what  uplifter  he's  got  after  me  now?  " 

In  the  Cafe  Roma,  Nucky  sat  down  at  a  little  table 
and  ordered  a  bowl  of  ministrone  with  red  wine.  He 
did  not  devour  his  food  as  the  normal  boy  of  his  age 
would  have  done.  He  ate  slowly  and  without  appetite. 
When  he  was  about  half  through  the  meal,  a  young  Irish' 
man  in  his  early  twenties  sat  down  opposite  him. 

"  Hello,  Nucky !     What's  doin'  ?  " 

"  Nothin'  worth  talking  about.  What's  doin'  with 
you?" 

"  O,  I  been  helping  Marty,  the  Dude,  out.  He's  going 
to  be  alderman  from  this  ward,  some  day." 

"  That's  the  idea !  "  cried  Nucky.  "  That's  what  I'd 
like  to  be,  a  politician.  I'd  rather  be  Mayor  of  N'  York 
than  king  of  the  world." 


10  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  I  thought  you  wanted  to  be  king  o'  the  dice  throw 
ers,"  laughed  the  young  Irishman. 

"  If  I  was,  I'd  buy  myself  the  job  of  Mayor,"  returned 
Nucky.  "  Coming  over  to-night?  " 

"  I  might,  'long  about  midnight.  Anything  good  in 
sight?" 

"  I  hope  so,"  Nucky's  hard  face  looked  for  a  moment 
boyishly  worried. 

"  Business  ain't  been  good,  eh?  " 

"  Not  for  me,"  replied  Nucky.  "  Luigi  seems  to  be 
goin'  to  the  bank  regular.  You  bet  that  guy  don't  risk 
keepin'  nothin'  in  the  house." 

"  I  shouldn't  think  he  would  with  a  wonder  like  you 
around,"  said  the  young  Irishman  with  a  certain  quality 
of  admiration  in  his  voice. 

Nucky's  thin  chest  swelled  and  he  paid  the  waiter 
with  an  air  that  exactly  duplicated  the  cafe  manner 
of  Marty,  the  Dude.  Then,  with  a  casual  nod  at 
Frank,  he  started  back  toward  Luigi's,  for  his  evening's 
work. 

It  began  to  snow  about  ten  o'clock  that  night.  The 
piles  of  dirty  ice  and  rubbish  on  MacDougal  Street  turned 
to  fairy  mountains.  The  dead  horse  in  Minetta  Lane 
might  have  been  an  Indian  mound  in  miniature.  An 
occasional  drunken  man  or  woman,  exuding  loathsome, 
broken  sentences,  reeled  past  Officer  Foley  who  stood  in 
the  shadows  opposite  Luigi's  house.  He  was  joined 
silently  and  one  at  a  time  by  half  a  dozen  other  men. 
Just  before  midnight,  a  woman  slipped  in  at  the  front 
door.  And  on  the  stroke  of  twelve,  Foley  gave  a  whis 
pered  order.  The  group  of  officers  crossed  the  street 
and  one  of  them  put  a  shoulder  against  the  door  which 
yielded  with  a  groan. 

When  the  door  of  the  large  room  on  the  second  floor 
burst  open,  Nucky  threw  down  his  playing  cards  and 
sprang  for  the  window.  But  Foley  forestalled  him  and 
slipped  handcuffs  on  him,  while  Nucky  cursed  and  fought 
with  all  the  venom  that  did  the  eight  or  ten  other  occu- 


MINETTA  LANE  11 

pants  of  the  room.  Tables  were  kicked  over.  A  small 
roulette  board  smashed  into  the  sealed  fire-place.  Brown 
Liz  broke  a  bottle  of  whiskey  on  an  officer's  helmet  and 
the  reek  of  alcohol  merged  with  that  of  cigarette  smoke 
and  snow-wet  clothes.  Luigi  freed  himself  for  a  mo 
ment  and  turned  off  the  gas  light  roaring  as  he  did  so. 

"  Get  out  da  back  room !     Da  backa  room !  " 

But  it  was  a  well-planned  raid.  No  one  escaped,  and 
shortly,  Nucky  was  climbing  into  the  patrol  wagon  that 
had  appeared  silently  before  the  door.  That  night  he 
was  locked  in  a  cell  with  a  drunken  Greek.  It  was  his 
first  experience  in  a  cell.  Hitherto,  Officer  Foley  had  pro 
tected  him  from  this  ignominy.  But  Officer  Foley,  as 
he  told  Nucky,  was  through  with  him. 

The  Greek,  except  for  an  occasional  oath,  slept  sod- 
denly.  The  boy  crouched  in  a  corner  of  the  cell,  breath 
ing  rapidly  and  staring  into  black  space.  At  dawn  he 
had  not  changed  his  position  or  closed  his  eyes. 

It  was  two  days  later  that  Officer  Foley  found  a  tele 
phone  message  awaiting  him  in  the  police  station.  "  Mr. 
John  Seaton  wants  you  to  call  him  up,  Foley." 

Foley  picked  up  the  telephone.  Mr.  Seaton  answered 
at  once.  "  It  was  nothing  in  particular,  Foley,  except 
that  I  wanted  to  tell  you  that  the  red-headed  boy  and  his 
name,  particularly  that  name,  in  Minetta  Lane,  have 
haunted  me.  If  he  gets  in  trouble  again,  you'd  better  let 
me  know." 

"You're  too  late,  Mr.  Seaton!  He's  in  up  to  his 
neck,  now."  The  officer  described  the  raid.  "  The 
judge  has  given  him  eighteen  months  at  the  Point  and 
we're  taking  him  there  this  afternoon." 

"  You  don't  mean  it !  The  young  whelp !  Foley, 
what  he  needs  is  a  licking  and  a  mother  to  love  him,  not 
reform  school." 

"  Sure,  but  no  matter  how  able  a  New  York  police 
man  is,  Mr.  Seaton,  he  can't  be  a  mother !  And  it's  too 
late!  The  judge  is  out  o'  patience." 

"  Look  here,  Foley,  hasn't  he  any  friends  at  all?  " 


12  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  There's  several  that  want  to  be  friends,  but  he  won't 
have  'em.  He's  sittin'  in  his  cell  for  all  the  world  like  a 
bull  pup  the  first  time  he's  tied." 

Mr.  Seaton  cleared  his  throat.  "  Foley,  let  me  come 
round  and  see  him  before  you  send  him  over  the  road, 
will  you?  " 

"  Sure,  that  can  be  fixed  up.  Only  don't  get  sore  when 
the  kid  snubs  you." 

"  Nothing  a  boy  could  do  could  hurt  me,  Foley.  You 
remember  that  Jack  was  not  exactly  an  angel." 

"  No,  that's  right,  but  Jack  was  always  a  good  sport, 
Mr.  Seaton.  That's  why  it's  so  hard  to  get  hold  of 
these  young  toughs  down  here !  They  ain't  sports !  " 
And  Foley  hung  up  the  receiver  with  a  sigh. 

Mr.  Seaton  preferred  to  introduce  himself  to  Nucky. 
The  boy  was  sitting  on  the  edge  of  his  bunk,  his  red  hair 
a  beautiful  bronze  in  the  dim  daylight  that  filtered 
through  the  high  window. 

"How  are  you.  Enoch?"  said  Mr.  Seaton.  "My 
name  is  John  Seaton.  Officer  Foley  pointed  you  out  to 
me  the  other  day  as  a  lad  who  was  making  bad  use  of  a 
good  name.  That's  a  wonderful  name  of  yours,  do  you 
realize  it  ?  " 

"  Every  uplifter  I  ever  met's  told  me  so,"  replied 
Nucky,  ungraciously,  without  looking  up. 

Mr.  Seaton  smiled.  "I'm  no  uplifter!  I'm  a  New 
York  lawyer!  Supposing  you  take  a  look  at  me  so's  to 
recognize  me  when  we  meet  again." 

Nucky  still  kept  his  gaze  on  the  floor.  "  I  know  what 
you  look  like.  You  got  gray  hair  and  brown  eyes,  you're 
thin  and  tall  and  about  fifty  years  old." 

"  Good  work !  "  exclaimed  Enoch's  caller.  "  Now, 
look  here,  Enoch,  can't  I  help  you  out  of  this 
scrape  ?  " 

"  Don't  want  to  be  helped  out.  I  was  doin'  a  man's 
job  and  I'll  take  my  punishment  like  a  man." 

Seaton  spoke  quickly.  "  It  wasn't  a  man's  job.  It 
was  a  thief's  job.  You're  taking  your  sentence  like  a 
common  thief,  not  like  a  man." 


MINETTA  LANE  13 

"  Aw,  dry  up  and  get  out  o'  here !  "  snarled  Nucky, 
jumping  to  his  feet  and  looking  his  caller  full  in  the 
face. 

Seaton  did  not  stir.  In  spite  of  its  immaturity,  its 
plainness  and  its  sullenness,  there  was  a  curious  dignity 
in  Nucky's  face,  that  made  a  strong  appeal  to  his  dignified 
caller. 

"  You  guys  always  preachin'  to  me !  "  Nucky  went  on, 
his  boyish  voice  breaking  with  weariness  and  excitement. 
"  Why  don't  you  look  out  for  your  own  kids  and  let  me 
alone?" 

"  My  only  boy  is  beyond  my  care.  He  was  killed  three 
years  ago,"  returned  Seaton.  "  I've  had  nothing  to  do 
with  boys  since.  And  I  don't  give  a  hang  about  you. 
It's  your  name  I'm  interested  in.  I  hate  to  see  a  fine 
name  in  the  hands  of  a  prospective  gunman." 

"  And  you  can't  get  me  with  the  sob  stuff,  either," 
Nucky  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

Seaton  scowled,  then  he  laughed.  "  You're  a  regular 
tough,  eh,  Enoch?  But  you  know  even  toughs  occasion 
ally  use  their  brains.  Do  you  want  to  go  to  reform 
school?" 

"  Yes,  I  do !     Go  on,  get  out  o'  here !  " 

"You  infernal  little  fool!"  blazed  Seaton,  losing  his 
temper.  "  Do  you  think  you  can  handle  me  the  way  you 
have  the  others  ?  Well,  it  can't  be  done !  Huntingdon  is 
a  real  name  in  this  country  and  if  you  think  any  pig 
headed,  rotten-minded  boy  can  carry  that  name  to  the 
pen,  without  me  putting  up  a  fight,  you're  mistaken! 
You've  met  something  more  than  your  match  this  time, 
you  are  pretty  sure  to  find  out  sooner  or  later,  my  sweet 
young  friend.  My  hair  was  red,  too,  before  —  up  to 
three  years  ago." 

Seaton  turned  and  slammed  out  of  the  cell.  When 
Foley  came  to  the  door  a  half  hour  later,  Nucky  was 
again  sitting  on  the  edge  of  the  bunk,  staring  sullenly  at 
the  floor. 

"  Come  out  o'  this,  Nucky,"  said  the  officer. 

Nucky  rose,  obediently,  and  followed  Foley  into  the 


H  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

next  room.  Mr.  Seaton  was  leaning  against  the  desk, 
talking  with  Captain  Blackly. 

"  Look  here,  Nucky,"  said  Blackly,  "  this  gentleman 
has  been  telephoning  the  judge  and  the  judge  has  paroled 
you  once  more  in  this  gentleman's  hands.  I  think  you're 
a  fool,  Mr.  Seaton,  but  I  believe  in  giving  a  kid  as  young 
as  Huntingdon  the  benefit  of  the  doubt.  We've  all  failed 
to  find  a  spark  of  decent  ambition  in  him.  Maybe  you 
can.  Just  one  word  for  you,  young  fellow.  If  you 
try  to  get  away  from  Mr.  Seaton,  we'll  get  you  in  a  way 
you'll  never  forget." 

Nucky  said  nothing.  His  unboyish  eyes  traveled 
from  one  face  to  another,  then  he  shrugged  his  shoulders 
and  dropped  his  weight  to  the  other  hip.  John  Seaton, 
whose  eyes  were  still  smoldering,  tapped  Nucky  on  the 
arm. 

"  All  right,  Enoch !  I'm  going  to  take  you  up  to  my 
house  to  meet  Mrs.  Seaton.  See  that  you  behave  like  a 
gentleman,"  and  he  led  the  way  into  the  street.  Nucky 
followed  without  any  outward  show  of  emotion.  His 
new  guardian  did  not  speak  until  they  reached  the  door 
of  the  apartment  house,  then  he  turned  and  looked  the 
boy  in  the  eye. 

"  I'm  obstinate,  Enoch,  and  quick  tempered.  No  one 
but  Mrs.  Seaton  thinks  of  me  as  a  particularly  likable 
chap.  You  can  do  as  you  please  about  liking  me,  but  I 
want  you  to  like  my  wife.  And  if  I  have  any  reason  to 
think  you've  been  anything  but  courteous  to  her,  I'll 
break  every  bone  in  your  body.  You  say  you  don't  want 
sob  stuff.  You'll  get  none  of  it  from  me." 

Not  a  muscle  of  Nucky's  face  quivered.  Mr.  Seaton 
did  not  wait  for  a  reply,  but  led  the  way  into  the  elevator. 
It  shot  up  to  the  top  floor  and  Nucky  followed  into  the 
long,  dark  hall  of  the  apartment. 

"  Put  your  hat  and  coat  here,"  said  his  guardian,  indi 
cating  the  hat  rack  on  which  he  was  hanging  his  own 
overcoat.  "  Now  follow  me."  He  led  the  boy  into  the 
living  room. 

A  small  woman  sat  by  the  window  that  overlooked  the 


MINETTA  LANE  15 

Square.  Her  brown  hair  was  just  touched  with  gray. 
Her  small  round  face  was  a  little  faded,  with  faint  lines 
around  eyes  and  lips.  It  was  not  an  intellectual  face,  but 
it  was  sweet  and  patient,  from  the  delicate  curve  of  the 
lips  to  the  slight  downward  droop  of  the  eyebrows  above 
the  clear  blue  eyes.  All  the  sweetness  and  patience  was 
there  with  which  the  wives  of  high  tempered,  obstinate 
men  are  not  infrequently  blessed. 

"  Mary,  this  is  young  Enoch  Huntingdon,"  said  Sea- 
ton. 

Mrs.  Seaton  offered  her  hand,  which  Nucky  took  awk 
wardly  and  unsmilingly.  "  How  do  you  do,  Enoch ! 
Mr.  Seaton  told  me  about  your  red  hair  and  your  fine 
old  name.  Are  you  going  to  stay  with  us  a  little  while?  " 

"  I  don't  know,  ma'am,"  replied  Enoch. 

"Sit  down,  Enoch!  Sit  down!"  Seaton  waved 
Enoch  impatiently  toward  a  seat  while  he  took  the  arm 
chair  beside  his  wife.  "  Mary,  I've  got  to  take  that 
trip  to  San  Francisco,  after  all.  Houghton  and  Com 
pany  insist  on  my  looking  into  that  Jameson  law-suit  for 
them." 

Mary  Seaton  looked  up,  a  little  aghast.  "  But  mercy, 
John !  I  can't  get  away  now,  with  Sister  Alice  coming !  " 

"  I  know  that.  So  I'm  going  to  take  Enoch  with 
me." 

"  Oh !  "  Mary  looked  from  her  husband  to  Enoch,  sit 
ting  awkwardly  on  the  edge  of  the  Chippendale  chair. 
His  usually  pale  face  was  a  little  flushed  and  his  thin 
lips  were  set  firmly  together.  From  her  scrutiny  of 
Enoch's  face,  she  turned  to  his  hands.  They  were  large 
and  bony  and  the  thumb  and  first  two  fingers  of  his  right 
hand  were  yellow. 

"  You  don't  look  as  if  you'd  been  eating  the  right  kind 
of  things,  Enoch,"  she  said,  kindly.  "  And  it's  cigarettes 
that  give  your  lips  that  bad  color.  You  must  let  me  help 
you  about  that.  When  do  you  start,  John  dear?" 

"  To-morrow  night,  and  I'm  afraid  I'll  be  gone  the  best 
part  of  three  weeks.  By  that  time,  I  ought  to  know 
something  about  Enoch,  eh?  " 


16  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

For  the  first  time  Enoch  grinned,  a  little  sheepishly,  to 
be  sure,  and  a  little  cynically.  Nevertheless  it  was  the 
first  sign  of  tolerance  he  had  shown  and  Mr.  Seaton  was 
cheered  by  it. 

"  That  will  give  time  to  get  Enoch  outfitted,"  said 
Mary.  "  We'll  go  up  to  Best's  to-morrow  morning." 

"  This  suit  is  new,"  said  Nucky. 

"  It  looks  new,"  agreed  Mrs.  Seaton,  "  but  a  pro 
nounced  check  like  that  isn't  nice  for  traveling.  And 
you'll  need  other  things." 

"  I  got  plenty  of  clothes  at  home,  and  I  paid  for  'em 
myself,"  Nucky's  voice  was  resentful. 

"  Well,  drop  a  line  to  that  Italian  you've  been  living 
with,  and  tell  him — "  began  Mr.  Seaton. 

"  Aw,  he'll  be  doin'  time  in  Sing  Sing  by  the  time  I 
get  back,"  interrupted  Nucky,  "  and  he  can't  read  any 
how.  I  always  'tended  to  everything  but  going  to  the 
bank  for  him." 

"  Did  you  really?  "  There  was  a  pleasant  note  of  ad 
miration  in  Mrs.  Seaton's  voice.  "  You  must  try  to  look 
out  for  Mr.  Seaton  then  on  this  trip.  He  is  so  absent- 
minded  !  Come  and  I'll  show  you  your  room,  Enoch. 
You  must  get  ready  for  dinner." 

She  rose,  and  led  the  boy  down  the  hall  to  a  small 
room.  It  was  furnished  in  oak  and  chintz.  Enoch 
thought  it  must  have  been  the  dead  boy's  room  for  there 
was  a  gun  over  the  bureau  and  photographs  of  a  foot 
ball  team  and  a  college  crew  on  the  walls. 

"  Supper  will  be  ready  in  ten  or  fifteen  minutes,"  said 
Mrs.  Seaton,  as  she  left  him.  A  moment  later,  he  heard 
her  speaking  earnestly  in  the  living-room.  He  brushed 
his  hair,  then  amused  himself  by  examining  the  contents 
of  the  room.  The  supper  bell  rang  just  as  he  opened  the 
closet  door.  He  closed  it,  hastily  and  silently,  and  a 
moment  later,  Mr.  Seaton  spoke  from  the  hall: 

"  Come,  Enoch !  "  and  the  boy  followed  into  the  din 
ing-room. 

His  table  manners  were  bad,  of  course,  but  Mrs.  Sea- 
ton  found  these  less  difficult  to  endure  than  the  boy's 


MINETTA  LANE  17 

unresponsive,  watchful  ways.  At  last,  as  the  pudding 
was  being  served,  she  exclaimed : 

"  What  in  the  world  are  you  watching  for,  Enoch  ? 
Do  you  expect  us  to  rob  you,  or  what?  " 

"  I  dunno,  ma'am,"  answered  Nucky. 

"  Do  you  enjoy  your  supper?  "  asked  Mrs.  Seaton. 

"  It's  all  right,  I  guess.  I'm  used  to  wine  with  my 
supper." 

"  Wine,  you  young  jack-donkey!  "  cried  John  Seaton. 
"  And  don't  you  appreciate  the  difference  between  a  home 
meal  like  this  and  one  you  pick  up  in  Minetta  Lane?  " 

"I  dunno!"  Nucky's  face  darkened  sullenly  and  he 
pushed  his  pudding  away. 

There  was  silence  around  the  table  for  a  few  moments. 
Mrs.  Seaton,  quietly  watching  the  boy,  thought  of  what 
her  husband  had  told  her  of  Officer  Foley's  account. 
The  boy  did  act  not  unlike  a  bull  pup  put  for  the  first 
time  on  the  lead  chain.  She  was  relieved  and  so  was 
Mr.  Seaton  when  Nucky,  immediately  after  the  meal 
was  finished,  said  that  he  was  sleepy,  and  went  to  bed. 

"  I  don't  envy  you  your  trip,  John,"  said  Mary  Seaton, 
as  she  settled  to  her  embroidery  again.  "  What  on  earth 
possesses  you  to  do  it?  The  boy  isn't  even  interesting 
in  his  badness." 

"  He's  got  the  face  either  of  a  great  leader  or  a  great 
criminal,"  said  Seaton,  shaking  out  his  paper.  "  He 
makes  me  so  mad  I  could  tan  his  hide  every  ten  minutes, 
but  I'm  going  to  see  the  thing  through.  It's  the  first 
time  in  three  years  I've  felt  interested  in  anything." 

Quick  tears  sprang  to  his  wife's  eyes.  "  I'm  so  glad 
to  have  you  feel  that  way,  John,  that  I'll  swallow  even 
this  impossible  boy.  What  makes  him  so  ugly?  Did 
he  want  to  go  to  reform  school?  " 

"  God  knows  what  any  boy  of  his  age  wants!  "  replied 
John  briefly.  "  But  I'm  going  to  try  in  the  next  three 
weeks  to  find  out  what's  frozen  him  up  so." 

"  Well,  I'll  dress  him  so  that  he  won't  disgrace  you." 

Mrs.  Seaton  smiled  and  sighed  and  went  on  with  her 
careful  stitching. 


i8  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

Nobody  tried  to  talk  to  Nucky  at  the  breakfast  table. 
After  the  meal  was  over  and  Mr.  Seaton  had  left  for 
the  office,  the  boy  sat  looking  out  of  the  window  until 
Mrs.  Seaton  announced  herself  ready  for  the  shopping 
expedition.  Then  he  followed  her  silently  to  the  waiting 
automobile. 

The  little  woman  took  great  care  in  buying  the  boy's 
outfit.  The  task  must  have  been  painful  to  her.  Only 
three  years  before  she  had  been  buying  clothes  for  Jack 
from  this  same  clerk.  But  Mary  Seaton  was  a  good 
soldier  and  she  did  a  good  job.  When  they  reached 
home  in  mid-afternoon  Nucky  was  well  equipped  for  his 
journey. 

To  Mary's  surprise  and  pleasure  he  took  care  of  her, 
helping  her  in  and  out  of  the  automobile,  and  waiting 
on  her  vigilantly.  He  was  awkward,  to  be  sure,  and 
silent,  but  Mary  was  secretly  sure  that  he  was  less  re 
sentful  toward  her  than  he  had  been  the  day  before. 
And  she  began  to  understand  her  husband's  interest  in 
the  strong,  immature,  sullen  face. 

The  train  left  at  six  o'clock.  Mrs.  Seaton  went  with 
them  to  the  very  train  gates. 

"  You'll  really  try  to  look  out  for  Mr.  Seaton,  won't 
you,  Enoch?  "  she  said,  taking  the  boy's  limp  hand,  after 
she  had  kissed  her  husband  good-by. 

"  Yes,  ma'am,"  replied  Nucky. 

"  Good-by,  Enoch !  I  truly  hope  you'll  enjoy  the  trip. 
Run  now,  or  you'll  miss  the  train.  See,  Mr.  Seaton's 
far  down  the  platform!  " 

Nucky  turned  and  ran.  Mr.  Seaton  waited  for  him 
at  the  door  of  the  Pullman.  His  jaw  was  set  and  he 
looked  at  Nucky  with  curiosity  not  untinged  with  re 
sentment.  Nucky  had  not  melted  after  a  whole  day  with 
Mary!  Perhaps  there  were  no  deeps  within  the  boy. 
But  as  the  train  moved  through  the  tunnel  something 
lonely  back  of  the  boy's  hard  stare  touched  him  and  he 
smiled. 

"  Well,  Enoch,  old  man,  are  you  glad  to  go  ?  " 

"  I  dunno,"  replied  Nucky. 


CHAPTER  II 

BRIGHT    ANGEL 

"I  was  sure,  when  I  was  eighteen,  that  if  1  could  but 
give  to  the  world  a  picture  of  Boyhood,  flagellated  by  the 
world's  stupidity  and  brutality,  the  world  would  need. 
At  thirty,  I  gave  up  the  hope." 

—  Enoch's  Diary. 

NO  one  could  have  been  a  less  troublesome  traveling 
companion  than  Nucky.  He  ate  what  was  set 
before  him,  without  comment.  He  sat  for  endless  hours 
on  the  observation  platform,  smoking  cigarettes,  his  keen 
eyes  on  the  flying  landscape.  His  blue  Norfolk  suit  and 
his  carefully  chosen  cap  and  linen  restored  a  little  of  the 
adolescent  look  of  which  the  flashy  clothing  of  his  own 
choosing  had  robbed  him.  No  one  glanced  askance  at 
Mr.  Seaton's  protege  or  asked  the  lawyer  idle  questions 
regarding  him. 

And  yet  Nucky  was  very  seldom  out  of  John  Seaton's 
thoughts.  Over  and  over  he  tried  to  get  the  boy  into 
conversation  only  to  be  checked  by  a  reply  that  was  half 
sullen,  half  impertinent.  Finally,  the  lawyer  fell  back 
on  surmises.  Was  Nucky  laying  some  deep  scheme  for 
mischief  when  they  reached  San  Francisco?  John  had 
believed  fully  that  he  and  Nucky  would  be  friends  before 
Chicago  was  passed.  But  he  had  been  mistaken.  What 
in  the  world  was  he  to  do  with  the  young  gambler  in 
San  Francisco,  that  paradise  of  gamblers?  He  could 
employ  a  detective  to  dog  Nucky,  but  that  was  to  ac 
knowledge  defeat.  If  there  were  only  some  place  along 
the  line  where  he  could  leave  the  boy,  giving  him  a  taste 
of  out  of  door  life,  such  as  only  the  west  knows! 

For  a  long  time  Seaton  turned  this  idea  over  in  his 
mind.  The  train  was  pulling  out  of  Albuquerque  when 
he  had  a  sudden  inspiration.  He  knew  Nucky  too  well 

19 


20  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

by  now  to  ask  him  for  information  or  for  an  expression 
of  opinion.  But  that  night,  at  dinner,  he  said,  casually, 

"  We're  going  to  leave  the  main  line,  at  Williams, 
Enoch,  and  go  up  to  the  Grand  Canyon.  There's  a 
guide  at  Bright  Angel  that  I  camped  with  two  years  ago. 
It's  such  bad  weather  that  I  don't  suppose  there'll  be 
many  people  up  there  and  I  telegraphed  him  this  after 
noon  to  give  me  a  week  or  so.  I'm  going  to  turn  you 
over  to  him  and  I'll  go  on  to  the  Coast.  I'll  pick  you 
up  on  my  way  back." 

"  All  right,"  said  Nucky,  casually. 

Mr.  Seaton  ground  his  teeth  with  impatience  and 
thought  of  what  Jack's  enthusiasm  would  have  been  over 
such  a  program.  But  he  said  nothing  and  strolled  out  to 
the  observation  car. 

It  was  raining  and  sleeting  at  Williams.  They  had 
to  wait  for  hours  in  the  little  station  for  the  connecting 
train  to  the  Canyon.  It  came  in,  finally,  and  Seaton  and 
Nucky  climbed  aboard,  the  only  visitors  for  the  usually 
popular  side  trip.  It  was  a  wild  and  lonely  run  to  the 
Canyon's  rim.  Nucky,  sitting  with  his  face  pressed 
against  the  window,  saw  only  vague  forms  of  cactus  and 
evergreens  through  the  sleet  which,  as  the  grade  rose 
steadily,  changed  to  snow.  It  was  mid-afternoon  when 
they  reached  the  rim.  A  porter  led  them  at  once  into 
the  hotel  and  after  they  were  established,  Seaton  went 
into  Nucky's  room.  The  boy  was  standing  by  the  win 
dow,  staring  at  the  storm. 

"  We  can't  see  the  Canyon  from  our  windows,"  said 
John.  "  I  took  care  of  that !  It  isn't  a  thing  you  want 
staring  at  you  day  and  night !  Nucky,  I  want  you  to 
get  your  first  look  at  the  Canyon,  alone.  One  always 
should.  You'd  better  put  on  your  coat  and  go  out  now 
before  the  storm  gets  any  worse.  Don't  wander  away. 
Stick  to  the  view  in  front  of  the  hotel.  I'll  be  out  in 
a  half  hour." 

Nucky  pulled  on  his  overcoat,  picked  up  his  cap  and'' 
went  out.  A  porter  was  sweeping  the  walk  before  the 
main  entrance. 


BRIGHT  ANGEL  21 

"  Say,  mister,  I  want  to  see  the  Canyon,"  said  Nticky. 

"Nothin'  to  hinder.  Yonder  she  lies,  waiting  for  you, 
son!  "  jerking  his  thumb  over  his  shoulder. 

Nucky  looked  in  the  direction  indicated.  Then  he 
took  a  deep,  shocked  breath.  The  snow  flakes  were  fall 
ing  into  nothingness!  A  bitter  wind  was  blowing  but 
Nucky  felt  the  sweat  start  to  his  forehead.  Through 
the  sifting  snow  flakes,  disappearing  before  his  gaze,  he 
saw  a  void,  silver  gray,  dim  in  outline,  but  none  the  less 
a  void.  The  earth  gaped  to  its  center,  naked,  awful, 
before  his  horrified  eyes.  Yet,  the  same  urgent  need  to 
know  the  uttermost  that  forces  one  to  the  edge  of  the 
skyscraper  forced  Nucky  to  the  rail.  He  clutched  it. 
A  great  gust  of  wind  came  up  from  the  Canyon,  clearing 
the  view  of  snow  for  the  moment,  and  Nucky  saw  down, 
down  for  a  mile  to  the  black  ribbon  of  the  Colorado  be 
low. 

"  I  can't  stand  it !  "  he  muttered.  "  I  can't  stand  it!  " 
and  turning,  he  bolted  for  the  hotel.  He  stopped  before 
the  log  fire  in  the  lobby.  A  little  group  of  men  and 
women  were  sitting  before  the  blaze,  reading  or  chatting. 
One  of  the  women  looked  up  at  the  boy  and  smiled.  It 
seemed  impossible  to  Nucky  that  human  beings  could  be 
sitting  so  calmly,  doing  quite  ordinary  things,  with  that 
horror  lying  just  a  few  feet  away.  For  perhaps  five 
minutes  he  struggled  with  his  sense  of  panic,  then  he 
went  slowly  out  and  forced  himself  to  the  railing  again. 

While  he  had  been  indoors,  it  had  ceased  to  storm  and 
the  view  lay  clear  and  clean  before  him.  Although  there 
was  a  foot  of  level  snow  on  the  rim,  so  vast  were  the 
ledges  and  benches  below  that  the  drifts  served  only  as 
high  lights  for  their  crimson  and  black  and  orange. 
Just  beneath  Nucky  were  tree  tops,  heavy  laden  with 
white.  Far,  far  below  were  tiny  shrubs  that  the  porter 
said  were  trees  and  below  these,  orderly  strips  of  bril 
liant  colors  and  still  below,  and  below — !  Nucky 
moistened  his  dry  lips  and  once  more  bolted  to  the  hotel. 

Just  within  the  door,  John  Seaton  met  him. 

"Well.  Enoch?" 


22  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

There  was  no  coldness  in  Nucky's  eyes  now.  They 
were  the  frightened  eyes  of  a  child. 

"  I  can't  stand  that  thing!  "  he  panted.  "  I  gotta  get 
back  to  N'  York,  now!" 

Seaton  looked  at  Nucky  curiously.  "  For  heaven's 
sake,  Enoch !  Where's  your  nerve?  " 

"  What  good  would  nerve  do  a  guy  lookin'  at  hell ! '' 
gasped  Nucky. 

"Hell?  Why  the  Canyon  is  one  of  the  beautiful 
sights  of  the  world!  You're  crazy,  Enoch!  Come  out 
with  me  and  look  again." 

"  Not  on  your  life !  "  cried  Nucky.  "  I'm  going  back 
to  little  old  N'  York." 

"  It  can't  be  done,  my  boy.  There'll  be  no  trains  out 
of  here  for  at  least  twelve  hours,  because  of  the  storm. 
And  listen,  Enoch !  No  nonsense !  Remember  that  if 
you  wander  away  from  the  hotel,  you're  lost.  There  are 
no  trolleys  in  this  neck  of  the  woods,  and  no  telephones 
and  no  police.  Wait  a  moment,  Enoch,  there's  Frank 
Allen,  the  guide." 

Seaton  hailed  a  tall,  rather  heavily  built  man  in  cor 
duroys  and  high  laced  boots,  who  had  lounged  up  to  the 
cigar  stand.  As  he  approached,  Nucky  saw  that  he  was 
middle  aged,  with  a  heavily  tanned  face  out  of  which 
the  blue  of  his  eyes  shone  conspicuously. 

"  Here  he  is,  Frank !  "  exclaimed  Seaton.  "  Nucky, 
this  is  the  man  who  is  going  to  look  out  for  you  while 
I'm  gone." 

"  Well,  young  New  York !  WThat're  you  going  to  do 
with  the  Canyon?"  Frank  slapped  the  boy  on  the 
shoulder. 

Nucky  grinned  uncertainly.     "  I  dunno!  "  he  said. 

"  Had  a  look  at  it?  "  demanded  the  guide. 

"  Yes !  "  Nucky  spoke  with  sudden  firmness.  "  And 
I  don't  like  it.  I  want  to  go  back  to  New  York." 

"  Come  on  out  with  Frank  and  me  and  get  used  to 
it."  suggested  John  Seaton. 

"  I'm  not  going  near  it  again,"  returned  Nucky. 

Allen  looked  at  the  boy  with  deliberate  interest.     He 


BRIGHT  ANGEL  23 

noted  the  pasty  skin,  the  hollow  chest,  the  strong,  un 
formed  features,  the  thin  lips  that  were  trembling,  despite 
the  cigarette  stained  ringers  that  pressed  against  them. 

"Did  you  ever  talk  to  Indians?"  asked  Allen,  sud 
denly. 

"No,"  said  Nucky. 

"  Well,  let's  forget  the  Canyon  and  go  over  to  the 
hogan,  yonder.  Is  that  the  best  you  two  can  do  on 
shoes?  I'm  always  sorry  for  you  lady-like  New  York 
ers.  Come  over  here  a  minute.  I  guess  we  can  rent 
some  boots  to  fit  you." 

"  I'm  going  to  write  letters,  Frank,"  said  Seaton. 
"  You  and  Enoch'll  find  me  over  at  one  of  the  desks. 
Fit  the  boy  out  as  you  think  best." 

Not  long  after,  Nucky  trailed  the  guide  through  the 
lobby.  He  was  wearing  high  laced  boots,  with  a  very 
self-conscious  air.  Once  outside,  in  the  glory  of  the 
westering  sun,  Frank  took  a  deep  breath. 

"  Great  air,  boy !  Get  all  you  can  of  it  into  those 
flabby  bellows  of  yours.  Before  we  go  to  the  hogan, 
come  over  to  the  corral.  My  Tom  horse  has  got  a  saddle 
sore.  A  fool  tourist  rode  him  all  day  with  a  fold  in  the 
blanket  as  big  as  your  fist." 

"  Is  he  a  bronco  ?  "  asked  Nucky,  with  sudden  ani 
mation. 

"  He  was  a  bronco.  You  easterners  have  the  wrong 
idea.  A  bronco  is  a  plains  pony  before  he's  broken. 
After  he's  busted  he's  a  horse.  See?" 

"  Aw,  you're  dead  wrong,  Frank !  "  drawled  a  voice. 

Nucky  looked  up  in  astonishment  to  see  a  tall  man, 
whose  skin  was  a  rich  bronze,  offering  a  cigarette  to  the 
guide. 

"  Dry  up,  Mike ! "  returned  Frank  with  a  grin. 
"  What  does  a  Navaho  know  about  horses !  Enoch,  this 
is  a  sure  enough  Indian.  Mike,  let  me  introduce  Mr. 
Enoch  Huntingdon  of  New  York  City." 

The  Navaho  nodded  and  smiled.  "  You  look  as  if  a 
little  Canyon  climbing  would  do  you  good,"  said  he. 
"  I  was  looking  at  Tom  horse,  Frank.  He's  in  bad 


24  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

shape.  How  much  did  that  tender-foot  weigh  that  rode 
him?" 

"  I  don't  know.  I  wasn't  here  the  day  they  hired  him 
out.  I  know  the  cuss  would  have  weighed  a  good  deal 
less  if  I'd  been  here  when  that  saddle  was  taken  off !  Go 
ing  down  to-morrow  with  Miss  Planer?  " 

"  Not  unless  some  one  breaks  trail  for  us.  Are  you 
going  to  try  it?  " 

"  Not  unless  my  young  friend  here  gets  his  nerve  up. 
Want  to  try  it,  Enoch?  " 

"  Try  what?  "  asked  Nucky. 

"  The  trip  down  Bright  Angel." 

"  Not  on  your  life!  "  cried  Nucky. 

Both  men  laughed,  the  Indian  moving  off  through  the 
snow  in  the  direction  of  a  dim  building  among  the 
cedars,  while  Frank  led  on  to  the  corral  fence.  Fifteen 
or  twenty  horses  and  mules  were  moving  about  the  en 
closure.  Allen  crossed  swiftly  among  them,  with  Nucky 
following,  apprehensively,  close  behind  him.  Frank's 
horse  was  in  the  stable,  but  while  he  seemed  to  examine 
the  sore  spot  on  the  animal's  back,  Frank's  real  attention 
was  riveted  on  Nucky.  The  boy  was  obviously  ill  at 
ease  and  only  half  interested  in  the  horse. 

"  These  are  the  lads  that  take  us  down  the  trail,"  said 
Allen  finally,  slapping  a  velvety  black  mule  on  the  flank. 
"  We  can't  trust  the  horses.  A  mule  knows  more  in  a 
minute  than  a  horse  knows  all  his  life." 

"  W'ill  you  go  with  me  to  take  another  look  at  it  ?  " 
asked  Nucky. 

An  expression  of  understanding  crossed  Frank's 
weather-beaten  face.  "  Sure  I  will,  boy !  Let's  walk  up 
the  rim  a  little  and  see  if  you  can  steady  your  nerves." 

"  I'd  rather  stay  by  the  rail,"  replied  Nucky,  doggedly. 

"  All  right,  old  man !  Don't  take  this  thing  too  hard, 
you  know !  After  all,  it's  only  a  crack  in  the  earth." 

Nucky  grinned  feebly,  and  trudged  steadily  up  to  the 
rail.  The  sun  was  setting  and  the  Canyon  was  like  the 
infinite  glory  of  God.  Untiring  as  was  his  love  for  the 


BRIGHT  ANGEL  25 

view,  Allen  preferred,  this  time,  to  watch  the  strange 
young  face  beside  him.  Nucky's  pallor  was  still  intense 
in  spite  of  the  stinging  wind.  His  deep  set  eyes  were 
strained  like  a.  child's,  listening  to  a  not-to-be-understood 
explanation  of  something  that  frightens  him.  For  a  full 
five  minutes  he  gazed  without  speaking.  Then  the  sun 
sank  and  the  Canyon  immediately  was  filled  with  gloom. 
Nucky's  lips  quivered.  "  I  can't  stand  it!  "  he  muttered 
again,  "  I  can't  stand  it!  "  and  once  more  he  bolted. 

This  time  he  went  directly  to  his  room.  Neither 
Allen  nor  Seaton  attempted  to  follow  him. 

"  He  is  some  queer  kid !  "  said  Frank,  taking  the  cigar 
Seaton  offered  him.  "  He  may  be  a  born  crook  or  he 
may  not,  but  believe  me,  there's  something  in  him  worth 
finding  out  about." 

"Just  what  I  say!"  agreed  Seaton.  "But  don't  be 
sure  you're  the  one  that  can  unlock  him.  Mrs.  Seaton 
couldn't  and  if  she  failed,  any  woman  on  earth  would. 
And  I  still  believe  that  a  chap  that's  got  any  good  in  him 
will  open  up  to  a  good  woman." 

"His  woman,  man!  His!  Not  to  somebody  else's 
woman."  Allen's  tone  was  impatient. 

"  His  woman !  Don't  talk  like  a  chump,  Frank ! 
Enoch's  only  fourteen." 

"  Makes  no  difference.  Your  wife  is  an  angel  as  I 
learned  two  years  ago,  but  she  may  not  have  Enoch's 
number,  just  the  same.  If  I  were  you,  I'd  mooch  up 
to  the  kid's  room  if  he  doesn't  come  down  promptly  to 
supper.  His  nerves  are  in  rotten  shape  and  he  oughtn't 
to  be  alone  too  long." 

Seaton  nodded,  and  shortly  after  seven  he  knocked 
softly  on  Nucky's  door.  There  was  an  inarticulate, 
"  Come  in !  "  Nucky  was  standing  by  the  window  in  the 
dark  room. 

"  Supper's  ready,  old  man.  You'd  better  have  it  now 
and  get  to  bed  early.  Jumping  from  sea  level  to  a  mile 
in  the  air  makes  a  chap  sleepy.  Are  you  washed  up?  " 

"  I'm  all  ready,"  mumbled  Nucky. 


26  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

He  went  to  bed  shortly  after  eight.  Something  for 
lorn  and  childish  about  the  boy's  look  as  he  said  good 
night  moved  John  Seaton  to  say, 

"  Tell  a  bell  boy  to  open  the  door  between  our  rooms, 
will  you,  Enoch  ?  "  and  he  imagined  that  a  relieved  look 
flickered  in  Nucky's  eyes. 

Seaton  himself  went  to  bed  and  to  sleep  early.  He 
was  wakened  about  midnight  by  a  soft  sound  from 
Nucky's  room  and  he  lay  for  a  few  moments  listening. 
Then  he  rose  and  turned  on  the  light  in  his  room,  and 
in  Nucky's.  The  boy  hastily  jerked  the  covers  over  his 
head.  Seaton  pulled  the  extra  blanket  at  the  bed  foot 
over  his  own  shoulders,  then  he  sat  down  on  the  edge 
of  the  bed  and  put  his  hand  on  Nucky's  heaving  back. 

"  Don't  you  think,  if  it's  bad  enough  to  make  you  cry, 
that  it's  time  you  told  a  friend  about  it,  Enoch?"  he 
said,  his  voice  a  little  husky. 

For  a  moment  sobs  strangled  the  boy's  utterance  en 
tirely.  Finally,  he  pulled  the  covers  down  but  still  keep 
ing  his  head  turned  away,  he  said, 

"  I  want  to  go  home!  " 

"  Home,  Enoch?     Where's  your  home?" 

"  N'  York's  my  home.     This  joint  scares  me." 

"  Whom  do  you  want  to  see  in  New  York,  Enoch?  " 

"  Anybody !  Nobody !  Even  the  police  station'd 
look  better'n  that  thing.  I  can  feel  it  out  there  now, 
waitin'  and  listenin' !  " 

Seaton  stared  blankly  at  the  back  of  Nucky's  head. 
His  experiment  was  not  turning  out  at  all  as  he  had 
planned.  Jack  often  had  puzzled  him  but  there  had  al 
ways  been  something  to  grasp  with  Jack.  His  own  boy 
had  been  such  a  good  sport !  A  good  sport !  Suddenly 
Seaton  cleared  his  throat. 

"  Enoch,  among  the  men  you  know,  what  is  the  opin 
ion  of  a  squealer?  " 

"  We  hate  him,''  replied  the  boy,  shortly. 

"  And  the  other  night  when  you  were  arrested,  you 
were  rather  proud  of  standing  up  and  taking  your  pun 
ishment  without  breaking  down.  If  one  of  the  men 


BRIGHT  ANGEL  27 

arrested  at  that  time  had  broken  down,  you'd  all  have 
despised  him,  I  suppose?  " 

"  Sure  thing,"  agreed  Nucky,  turning  his  head  ever  so 
little  toward  the  man. 

"  Enoch,  why  are  you  breaking  down  now?  " 

"Aw,  what  difference  does  it  make?"  demanded  the 
boy.  "  You  despise  me  anyhow !  " 

"  Oh !  "  ejaculated  Seaton  as  a  sudden  light  came  to 
his  groping  mind.  "  Oh,  I  see !  What  a  chump  you 
are,  old  man!  Of  course,  I  despise  the  kind  of  life 
you've  led,  but  I  blame  Minetta  Lane  for  that,  not  you. 
And  I  believe  there  is  so  much  solid  fine  stuff  in  you  that 
I'm  giving  you  this  trip  to  show  you  that  there  are  people 
and  things  outside  of  Minetta  Lane  that  are  more  worth 
a  promising  boy's  time  than  gambling.  But,  you  won't 
play  the  game.  You  are  so  vain  and  ignorant,  you  re 
fuse  to  see  over  your  nose." 

"  I  told  you,  you  despised  me,"  said  Nucky,  sullenly. 

The  man  smiled  to  himself.  Suddenly  he  took  the 
boy's  hand  in  both  his  own. 

"  I  suppose  if  Jack  had  been  reared  in  Minetta  Lane, 
he'd  have  been  just  as  wrong  in  his  ideas  as  you  are. 
Look  here,  Enoch,  I'll  make  a  bargain  with  you.  I  want 
you  to  try  the  Canyon  for  a  week  or  so,  until  I  get  back 
from  the  Coast.  If,  at  the  end  of  that  time,  you  still 
want  Minetta  Lane,  I'll  land  you  back  there  with  fifty 
dollars  in  your  pocket,  and  you  can  go  your  own  gait." 

Nucky  for  the  first  time  turned  and  looked  Seaton  in 
the  face.  "Honest?"  he  gasped. 

Seaton  nodded. 

"  Do  I  have  to  go  down  the  Canyon  ?  "  asked  Nucky. 

"  You  don't  have  to  do  anything  except  play  straight, 
till  I  get  back." 

"I  —  I  guess  I  could  stand  it," —  the  boy's  eyes  were 
a  little  pitiful  in  their  fear. 

"  That  isn't  enough.     I  want  your  promise,  Enoch !  " 

Nucky  stared  into  Seaton's  steady  eyes.  "  All  right, 
I'll  promise.  And  —  and,  Mr.  Seaton,  would  you  sit 
with  me  till  I  get  to  sleep  ?  " 


28  THE  ENCHANTED  CANNON 

Seaton  nodded.  Nucky  had  made  no  attempt  to  free 
his  hand  from  the  kindly  grasp  that  imprisoned  it.  He 
lay  staring  at  the  ceiling  for  a  long  moment,  then  his 
eyelids  fluttered,  dropped,  and  he  slept.  He  did  not  stir 
when  Seaton  rose  and  went  back  to  his  own  bed. 

It  did  not  snow  during  the  night  and  the  train  that 
had  brought  Nucky  and  Mr.  Seaton  up  announced  itself 
as  ready  for  the  return  trip  to  Williams,  immediately 
after  breakfast.  Nucky  slept  late  and  only  opened  his 
eyes  when  Frank  Allen  clumped  into  the  room  about  nine 
o'clock. 

"  Hello,  New  York!  Haven't  died,  have  you?  Come 
on,  we're  going  to  break  trail  down  the  Canyon,  you 
and  I." 

"Not  on  your  life!"  Nucky  roused  at  once  and  sat 
up  in  bed,  his  face  very  pale  under  its  thatch  of  dark  red 
hair. 

"  John  Seaton  turned  you  over  to  me.  Said  to  tell 
you  he  thought  you  needed  the  sleep  more  than  you  did 
to  say  good-by  to  him.'' 

"  He  told  me  last  night,"  exclaimed  Nucky,  "  that  I 
didn't  have  to  go  down  the  Canyon." 

"  And  you  don't,  you  poor  sissy !  You  aren't  afraid 
to  get  up  and  dress,  are  you?  "  Allen's  grin  took  away 
part  of  the  sting  of  his  speech.  "  Meet  me  in  the  lobby 
in  twenty  minutes,  Enoch,"  and  he  turned  on  his  heel. 

Nucky  was  down  in  less  than  the  time  allotted.  As 
he  leaned  against  the  office  desk,  waiting  for  the  guide, 
the  room  clerk  said,  "  So  you're  the  kid  that's  afraid  to 
go  down  the  trail.  Usually  it's  the  old  ladies  that  kick 
up  about  that.  Most  boys  your  age  are  crazy  for  the 
trip." 

Nucky  muttered  something  and  moved  away.  In  front 
of  the  fire  the  woman  vrho  had  smiled  at  him  the  day 
before,  smiled  again. 

"'Afraid  too,  aren't  you!  They  can't  get  me  onto 
that  trail,  either." 

Nucky  smiled  feebly  then  looked  about  a  little  wildly 


BRIGHT  ANGEL  29 

for  Frank  Allen.  When  he  espied  the  guide  at  the  cigar 
stand,  he  crossed  to  him  hurriedly. 

"  Say  now,  Mr.  Allen,  listen !  " 

"I'm  all  ears,  son!" 

"  Now  don't  tell  everybody  I'm  afraid  of  the  trail !  " 

"  Oh,  you're  the  kid !  "  exclaimed  a  bell  boy.  "  Say, 
there  was  an  old  lady  here  once  that  used  to  go  out  ever]? 
morning  and  pray  to  the  Lord  to  close  the  earth's  gap,  it 
made  her  so  nervous!  Why  don't  you  try  that,  kid? 
Maybe  the  Lord  would  take  a  suggestion  from  a  New 
Yorker." 

Nucky  rushed  to  the  dining  room.  He  was  too  angry 
and  resentful  to  eat  much.  He  drank  two  cups  of  cof 
fee,  however,  and  swallowed  some  toast. 

"  Ain't  you  going  to  eat  your  eggs  ?  "  demanded  the 
waitress.  "What's  the  matter  with  you?  Folks  al 
ways  stuff  themselves,  here.  Say,  don't  let  the  trail 
scare  you.  I  was  that  way  at  first,  but  finally  I  got  my 
nerve  up  and  there's  nothing  to  it.  Say,  let  me  give  you 
some  advice.  There's  only  a  few  folks  here  now,  so 
the  guides  and  the  hotel  people  have  got  plenty  of  time 
on  their  hands.  They're  awful  jokers  and  they'll  tease 
the  life  out  of  you,  till  you  take  the  trip.  You  just  get 
on  a  mule,  this  morning,  and  start.  Every  day  you  wait, 
you'll  hate  it  more." 

Nucky's  vanity  had  been  deeply  wounded.  Greater 
than  his  fear,  which  was  very  great  indeed,  was  Nucky's 
vanity.  He  gulped  the  second  cup  of  coffee,  then  with 
the  air  of  bravado  which  belonged  to  Marty  the  Dude,  he 
sauntered  up  to  the  cigar  stand  where  the  guide  still 
lounged. 

"  All  right,  Frank,"  said  Nucky.  "  I'm  ready  for 
Bright  Angel  when  you  are." 

The  guide  looked  at  the  boy  carefully.  Two  bright 
red  spots  were  burning  in  Nucky's  cheeks.  He  was  bit 
ing  his  lips,  nervously.  But  his  blue  eyes  were  hard  and 
steady. 

"  I'll  be  ready  in  half  an  hour,  Enoch.     Meet  me  at 


30  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

the  corral.  We'll  camp  down  below  for  a  night  or  two 
if  you  hold  out  and  I'll  have  to  have  the  grub  put  up. 
You  go  over  to  the  store  room  yonder  and  get  a  flannel 
shirt  and  a  pair  of  denim  pants  to  pull  on  over  those 
you're  wearing.  Mr.  Seaton  left  his  camera  for  you. 
I  put  it  on  your  bureau.  Bring  that  along.  Skip  now !  " 

Nucky's  cheeks  were  still  burning  when  he  met  Allen 
at  the  corral.  Three  mules,  one  a  well  loaded  pack  mule, 
the  others  saddled,  were  waiting.  Frank  leaned  against 
the  bars. 

"  Enoch,"  said  the  man,  "  there's  no  danger  at  all,  if 
you  let  your  mule  alone.  Don't  try  to  guide  him.  He 
knows  the  trail  perfectly.  All  you  have  to  do  is  to  sit 
in  the  saddle  and  look  up,  not  down!  Remember,  up, 
not  down!  I  shall  lead.  You  follow,  on  Spoons.  Old 
Foolish  Face  brings  up  the  rear  with  the  pack.  Did 
you  ever  ride,  before?  " 

"  I  never  touched  a  horse  in  my  life,"  replied  Nucky, 
trying  to  curb  the  chattering  of  his  teeth. 

"  You  had  better  mount  and  ride  round  the  road  here, 
for  a  bit.  Take  the  reins,  so.  Stand  facing  the  saddle, 
so.  Now  put  this  foot  in  the  stirrup,  seize  the  pommel, 
and  swing  the  other  leg  over  as  you  spring.  That's  the 
idea !  " 

Nucky  was  awkward,  but  he  landed  in  the  saddle  and 
found  the  other  stirrup,  the  mule  standing  fast  as  a 
mountain  while  he  did  so.  Spoons  moved  off  at  Allen's 
bidding,  and  Nucky  grasped  at  the  pommel.  But  only 
for  a  moment. 

"Don't  he  shake  any  worse  than  this?"  he  cried. 

"  No,  but  it's  not  so  easy  to  stay  in  the  saddle  when 
the  grade's  steep.  Pull  on  your  right  rein,  Enoch,  and 
bring  old  Spoons  in  behind  me.  Well  done !  We're 
off!  See  the  bunch  on  the  hotel  steps!  Guess  you 
fooled  'em  this  time,  New  York !  " 

Half  a  dozen  people,  including  the  clerk  were  standing 
on  the  steps,  watching  the  little  cavalcade.  As  the 
mules  filed  by,  somebody  began  to  clap. 

"What's  the  excitement,  Frank?"  demanded  Nucky. 


BRIGHT  ANGEL  31 

Frank  turned  in  his  saddle  to  smile  at  the  boy.  "  Out 
in  this  country  we  admire  physical  nerve  because  we 
need  a  lot  of  it.  And  you're  showing  a  good  quality, 
old  chap.  Just  sit  easy  now  and  when  you  want  me  to 
stop,  yell." 

Nucky  was  sitting  very  straight  with  his  thin  chest 
up,  and  he  managed  to  maintain  this  posture  as  the  trail 
turned  down  over  the  rim.  Then  he  grasped  the  pommel 
in  both  hands. 

It  was  a  wonderful  trail,  carved  with  infinite  patience 
and  ingenuity  out  of  the  canyon  wall.  To  Allen  it  was 
as  safe  and  easy  as  a  flight  of  stairs.  Nucky,  trembling 
in  the  saddle  would  have  felt  quite  as  comfortable  stand 
ing  on  the  topmost  window  ledge  of  the  Flat  Iron  build 
ing,  in  New  York.  And,  to  Nucky,  there  was  no  trail! 
Only  a  narrow,  corkscrew  shelf,  deep  banked  with  snow 
into  which  the  mules  set  their  small  feet  gingerly.  For 
many  minutes,  the  boy  saw  only  this  trackless  ledge,  and 
the  sickening  blue  depths  below. 

"  I  can  never  stand  it !  "  he  muttered.  "  I  can  never 
stand  it!  If  this  mule  makes  just  one  mis-step,  I'm 
dead."  He  felt  a  little  nauseated.  "  I  can  never  stand 
it!  'Twonld  have  been  better  if  I'd  just  let  'em  tease  me. 
Hey,  Frank!" 

The  guide  looked  back.  The  red  spots  were  gone  from 
Nucky's  cheeks  now. 

"  We  got  to  go  back !  I  can't  get  away  with  it !  " 
cried  the  boy. 

"  It's  impossible  to  turn  here,  Enoch !  Look  up,  man ! 
Look  up!  And  just  trust  old  Spoons!  Are  you  cold? 
It  was  only  eight  above  zero,  when  we  left  the  top.  But 
the  snow  11  disappear  as  we  go  down  and  when  we  reach 
the  river  it'll  be  summer.  See  that  lone  pine  up  on  the 
rim  to  your  right?  They  say  an  Indian  girl  jumped 
from  the  top  of  that  because  she  bore  a  cross-eyed  baby. 
Look  up,  Enoch,  as  we  round  this  curve  and  see  that 
streak  of  red  in  the  wall.  An  Indian  giant  bled  to  death 
on  the  rim  and  his  blood  seeped  through  the  solid  rock 
to  this  point.  Watch  how  the  sky  gets  a  deeper  blue, 


32 

the  farther  down  we  go.  And  now,  Enoch  look  out,  not 
down.  You  may  come  down  Bright  Angel  a  thousand 
times  and  never  see  the  colors  you  see  to-day.  The 
snowfall  has  turned  the  world  into  a  rainbow,  by  heck!  " 

Slowly,  very  slowly,  Nucky  turned  his  head  and  cling 
ing  to  the  pommel,  he  stared  across  the  canyon.  White 
of  snow;  sapphire  of  sky;  black  of  sharp  cut  shadow. 
Mountains  rising  from  the  canyon  floor  thrust  scarlet 
and  yellow  heads  across  his  line  of  vision.  Close  to  his 
left,  as  the  trail  curved,  a  wall  of  purest  rose  color  lifted 
from  a  bank  of  snow  that  was  as  blue  as  Allen's  eyes. 
Beyond  and  beyond  and  ever  beyond,  the  vast  orderli 
ness  of  the  multi-colored  canyon  strata  melted  into  deli 
cate  white  clouds  that  now  revealed,  now  concealed  the 
mountain  tops. 

Nucky  gazed  and  gazed,  shuddering,  yet  enthralled. 
Another  sharp  twist  in  the  trail  and  his  knee  scraped 
against  the  wall.  He  cried  out  sharply.  Frank  turned 
to  look  but  he  did  not  stop  the  mules. 

"  Spoons  thinks  it's  better  to  amputate  your  leg,  once 
in  a  while  than  to  risk  getting  too  close  to  the  outer  edge 
of  the  trail  in  all  this  snow.  He's  an  old  warrior,  is 
Spoons !  He  could  carry  a  grand  piano  down  this  trail 
and  never  scrape  the  varnish.  Look  up,  Enoch!  We'll 
soon  reach  a  broad  bench  where  I'll  let  you  rest." 

"  Don't  you  think  I'll  ever  get  off  this  brute  till  we 
reach  bottom !  "  shuddered  Nucky. 

The  guide  laughed  and  silence  fell  again.  The  mules 
moved  as  silently  through  the  snow  as  the  mists  across 
the  mountain  tops.  In  careful  gradation  the  trail  zig 
zagged  downward.  The  snow  lessened  in  depth  with 
each  foot  of  drop.  The  bitter  cold  began  to  give  way 
to  the  increasing  warmth  of  the  sun.  Sensation  crept 
back  into  Nucky's  feet  and  hands.  By  a  supreme  effort 
for  many  moments  he  managed  to  fix  his  eyes  firmly 
on  Frank's  broad  back,  and  though  he  could  not  give 
up  his  hold  on  the  pommel,  he  sat  a  little  straighter. 
Then,  of  a  sudden,  Spoons  stopped  in  his  tracks,  and  as 
suddenly  a  little  avalanche  of  snow  shot  down  the  can- 


BRIGHT  ANGEL  33 

yon  wall,  catching  the  mule's  forelegs.  Spoons  promptly 
threw  himself  inward,  against  the  wall.  Nucky  gave  a 
startled  look  at  the  sickening  depths  below  and  when 
Frank  turned  in  his  saddle,  Nucky  had  fainted,  half 
clinging  to  Spoons'  neck,  half  supported  against  the  wet, 
rocky  wall. 

With  infinite  care,  and  astonishing  speed,  Frank  slid 
from  his  mule  and  made  his  way  back  to  the  motionless 
Spoons. 

"  Always  said  you  were  more  than  human,  old  chap," 
said  Allen,  kicking  the  snow  away  from  the  mule's  fore 
legs.  "  Easy  now !  Don't  lose  your  passenger !  "  The 
mule  regained  his  balance  and  stepped  carefully  forward 
out  of  the  drift,  while  the  guide,  balanced  perilously  on 
the  outer  edge  of  the  trail,  kept  a  supporting  hand  on 
Nucky's  shoulders. 

But  there  was  no  need  of  the  flask  Frank  pulled  from 
his  pocket.  Nucky  opened  his  eyes  almost  immediately. 
Whatever  emotion  Frank  may  have  felt,  he  kept  to  him 
self.  "  I  told  you  Spoons  was  better  than  a  life  insur 
ance  policy,  Enoch." 

Enoch  slowly  pushed  himself  erect.  He  looked  from 
Frank's  quizzical  eyes  to  Spoons'  twitching  ears,  then  at 
his  own  shaking  hands. 

"  I  fainted,  didn't  I?  "  he  asked. 

Allen  nodded,  and  something  in  the  twist  of  the  man's 
!ips  maddened  Nucky.  He  burst  forth  wildly : 

"  You  think  I'm  a  blank  blank  sissy !  Well,  mayb? 
I  am.  But  if  New  York  couldn't  scare  me,  this  blank 
blank  hole  out  here  in  this  blank  blank  jumping  off  place 
can't.  I'm  going  on  down  this  trail  and  if  I  fall  and 
get  killed,  it's  up  to  you  and  Mr.  Seaton." 

"  Good  work,  New  York !  "  responded  Allen  briefly. 
He  edged  his  way  carefully  back  to  his  mule  and  the 
cavalcade  moved  onward.  Perhaps  five  minutes  after 
ward,  as  they  left  the  snow  line,  the  guide  looked  back. 
Nucky  was  huddled  in  the  saddle,  his  eyes  closed  tight, 
but  his  thin  lips  were  drawn  in  a  line  that  caused  Allen 
to  change  his  purpose.  He  did  not  speak  as  he  had 


34  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

planned,  but  led  the  way  on  for  a  long  half  hour,  in 
silence,  his  eyes  thoughtful. 

But  Nucky  did  not  keep  his  eyes  closed  long.  The 
pull  of  horror,  of  mystery,  of  grandeur  was  too  great. 
And  after  the  avalanche,  his  confidence  in  Spoons  was 
established.  He  was  little  more  than  a  child  and  under 
his  bravado  and  his  watchfulness  there  was  a  child's  reck 
lessness.  If  he  were  to  fall,  at  least  he  must  see  whither 
he  was  to  fall.  He  forced  himself  to  look  from  time 
to  time  into  the  depths  below.  The  trail  dropped  stead 
ily,  while  higher  and  higher  soared  canyon  wall  and 
mountain  peak.  It  was  still  early  when  the  trail  met 
the  plateau  on  which  lie  the  Indian  gardens. 

Frank's  mule  suddenly  quickened  his  stride  as  did 
Spoons.  But  Nucky,  although  he  was  weary  and  saddle 
sore  had  no  intention  of  crying  a  halt,  now  that  the  trail 
was  level.  His  pulse  began  to  subside  and  once  more  he 
sat  erect  in  the  saddle.  When  the  mules  rushed  forward 
to  bury  their  noses  in  a  cress-grown  spring,  he  grinned 
at  Frank. 

"Well,  here  I  am,  after  all!" 

Frank  grinned  in  return.  "  If  I  could  put  through  a 
few  more  stunts  like  this,  you'd  look  almost  like  a  boy, 
instead  of  a  potato  sprout.  Get  down  and  limber  up." 

Nucky  half  scrambled,  half  fell  off  his  mule.  "  Must 
be  spring  down  here,"  he  cried,  staring  about  at  grass 
and  cottonwood. 

"  Just  about.  And  it'll  be  summer  when  we  reach  the 
river." 

"  That  was  some  trail,  wasn't  it,  Frank !  Do  many 
kids  take  it?" 

"  Lots  of  'em,  but  only  with  guides,  and  you  were  the 
worst  case  of  scared  boy  I've  ever  seen." 

Nucky  flushed.  "  Well,  you  might  give  me  credit  for 
hanging  to  it,  even  if  I  was  scared." 

"  I'll  give  you  a  lot  of  credit  for  that,  old  man.  But 
if  the  average  New  York  boy  has  nerves  like  yours,  I'm 
glad  many  of  them  don't  come  to  the  Canyon,  that's  all. 
Your  nerves  would  disgrace  a  girl." 


BRIGHT  ANGEL  35 

'  The  guys  I  gamble  with  never  complained  of  my 
lack  of  nerves/'  cried  Nucky,  angrily. 

"Gambling!  Thunder!  What  nerve  does  it  take  to 
stack  the  cards  against  a  dub?  But  this  country  out  here, 
let  me  tell  you,  it  takes  a  man  to  stand  up  to  it." 

"  And  I've  been  through  police  raids  too,  and  never 
squealed  and  I  know  two  gunmen  and  they  say  I'm  as 
hard  as  steel." 

'  They  should  have  seen  you  with  your  arms  around 
Spoons'  neck,  back  up  the  trail  there,"  said  Allen  dryly. 
"  Come !  Mount  again,  Enoch !  I  want  to  have  lunch 
at  the  river." 

Enoch  was  sullen  as  they  started  on  but  his  sullenness 
did  not  last  long.  As  his  fear  receded,  his  curiosity  in 
creased.  He  gazed  about  him  with  absorbed  interest, 
and  he  began  to  bombard  the  guide  with  questions  in 
genuine  boy  fashion. 

"  How  far  is  it  to  the  river  ?  Do  we  have  any  steeper 
trails  than  the  ones  we've  been  on,  already?  Did  any 
one  ever  swim  across  the  river?  Was  any  one  ever  killed 
when  he  minded  what  the  guide  told  him?  What  guys 
camp  in  the  Indian  gardens?  How  much  does  it  cost? 
Did  any  one  ever  climb  up  the  side  of  the  Canyon,  say 
like  one  yonder  where  it  looked  like  different  colored 
stair  steps  going  up?  Did  any  one  ever  find  gold  in  the 
canyon?  How  did  they  know  it  when  they  found  it? 
Did  Frank  ever  do  any  mining?  What  was  placer  min 
ing?"  And  on  and  on,  only  the  intermittently  return 
ing  fear  of  the  trail  silencing  him  until  Frank  ordered 
him  to  dismount  in  a  narrow  chasm  within  sight  of  the 
roaring,  muddy  Colorado. 

"  One  of  the  ways  Seaton  employed  to  persuade  me  to 
take  care  of  you  for  a  week  was  by  telling  me  you  were  a 
very  silent  kid,"  added  the  guide. 

Nucky  grinned  sheepishly,  and  turned  to  stare  won- 
deringly  at  the  black  walls  that  here  closed  in  upon  them 
breathlessly.  Their  lunch  had  been  prepared  at  the  ho 
tel.  Frank  fed  the  mules,  then  handed  Nucky  his  box 
of  lunch  and  proceeded  to  open  his  own. 


36  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  Does  it  make  you  sore  to  have  me  ask  you  ques 
tions  ?  "  asked  the  boy. 

"No!  I  guess  it's  more  natural  for  a  kid  than  the 
sulks  you've  been  keeping  up  with  Seaton." 

"  I'm  not  such  a  kid.  I'm  going  on  fifteen  and  I've 
earned  my  own  way  since  I  was  twelve.  And  I  earn  it 
with  men,  too."  Nucky  jerked  his  head  belligerently. 

Frank  ate  a  hard  boiled  egg  before  speaking.  Then, 
with  one  eyebrow  raised,  he  grunted,  "  What.'d  you  work 
at?" 

"  Cards  and  dice !  "  this  very  proudly. 

"  You  poor  nut !  "  Frank's  voice  was  a  mixture  of 
contempt  and  compassion.  Nucky  immediately  turned 
sulky  and  the  meal  was  finished  in  silence.  When  the 
last  doughnut  had  been  devoured,  Frank  stretched  him 
self  in  the  warm  sand  left  among  the  rocks  by  the  river 
at  flood. 

"  Must  be  eighty  degrees  down  here,"  he  yawned. 
"  We'll  rest  for  a  half  hour,  then  we'll  make  the  night 
camp.  It's  after  two  now  and  it  will  be  dark  in  this 
narrow  rift  by  four." 

Nucky  looked  about  him  apprehensively.  The  Can 
yon  here  was  little  more  than  a  gorge  whose  walls  rose 
sheer  and  menacing  toward  the  narrow  patch  of  blue  sky 
above.  He  could  not  make  up  his  mind  to  lie  down 
a'nd  relax  as  Frank  had  done.  All  was  too  new  and 
strange. 

"  Are  there  snakes  round  here  ?  "  he  demanded. 

Frank's  grunt  might  have  been  either  yes  or  no. 
Nucky  glanced  impatiently  at  the  guide's  closed  eyes, 
then  he  began  to  clamber  aimlessly  and  languidly  over 
the  rocks  to  the  river  edge.  At  a  distance  of  perhaps  a 
hundred  feet  from  Frank  he  stopped,  looked  at  the  bleak, 
blank  wall  of  the  river  opposite,  bit  his  nails  and  shud 
dering  turned  back.  He  crouched  on  a  rock,  near  the 
guide,  smoking  one  cigarette  after  another  until  Frank 
jumped  to  his  feet. 

"  Three  o'clock,  New  York !  Time  to  get  ready  for 
the  night." 


BRIGHT  ANGEL  37 

"  I  don't  want  to  stay  in  this  hole  all  night !  "  pro> 
tested  Nucky,  "  I  couldn't  sleep." 

"  You'll  like  it.  You've  no  idea  how  comfortable  I'm 
going  to  make  you.  Now,  your  job  is  to  gather  drift 
wood  and  pile  it  on  that  flat  topped  rock  yonder.  Keep 
piling  till  I  tell  you  to  quit.  The  nights  are  cold  and 
I'll  keep  a  little  blaze  going  late,  for  you." 

"What's  the  idea?"  demanded  Nucky.  "Why  stay 
down  here,  like  lost  dogs,  when  there's  a  first  class  hotel 
back  up  there  ?  " 

Frank  sighed.  "  Well,  the  idea  is  this !  A  real  he 
man  likes  camping  in  the  wilds  better'n  he  likes  any 
thing  on  earth.  Seaton  thought  maybe  somewhere  in 
that  pindling  carcass  of  yours  there  was  the  making  of 
a  he  man  and  that  you'd  like  the  experience.  I  prom 
ised  him  I'd  try  you  out  and  I'm  trying  you,  hang  you 
for  an  ungrateful,  cowardly  cub." 

Nucky  turned  on  his  heel  and  began  to  pick  up  drift 
wood.  He  was  in  poor  physical  trim  but  the  pile,  though 
it  grew  slowly,  grew  steadily.  By  the  time  Frank  an 
nounced  the  camp  ready,  Nucky's  fuel  pile  was  of  really 
imposing  dimensions.  And  dusk  was  thickening  in  the 
gorge. 

Before  a  great  flat  faced  rock  that  looked  toward  the 
river,  was  a  stretch  of  clean  dry  sand.  Against  this 
rock,  the  guide  had  placed  a  rubber  air-mattress  and  a 
plentiful  supply  of  blankets.  A  small  folding  table  stood 
before  a  rough  stone  fire  place.  A  canvas  shelter 
stretched  vertically  on  two  strips  of  driftwood,  shut  off 
the  night  wind  that  was  beginning  to  sweep  through 
the  Canyon.  The  mules  were  tethered  close  to  the 
camp. 

"  Where'd  that  mattress  come  from  ? "  exclaimed 
Nucky. 

"  Partly  off  old  Funny  Face's  back  and  part  out  of  a 
bicycle  pump.  Didn't  want  to  risk  your  sickly  bones  on 
the  ground  until  you  harden  up  a  bit.  Pretty  good  pile 
of  timber  for  an  amateur,  New  York."  Frank  looked 
up  from  the  fire  he  was  kindling  into  Nucky's  thin,  tired 


38  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

face.  "  Now,  son,  you  sit  down  on  the  end  of  your  bed 
and  take  it  easy.  I'm  an  old  hand  at  this  game  and  be 
fore  we've  had  our  week  together  I'm  banking  on  your 
being  glad  to  help  me.  But  to-day  you've  had  enough." 

"  Thanks,"  mumbled  Nucky,  as  he  eagerly  followed 
the  guide's  suggestions. 

The  early  supper  tasted  delicious  to  the  boy  although 
every  muscle  in  his  body  ached.  Bacon  and  flap  jacks, 
coffee  and  canned  peaches  he  devoured  with  more  appe 
tite  than  he  ever  had  brought  to  ministrone  and  red 
wine.  A  queer  and  inexplicable  sense  of  comfort  and 
a  desire  to  talk  came  over  him  after  the  meal  was  finished, 
the  camp  in  order,  and  the  fire  replenished. 

"  This  ain't  so  bad,"  he  said.  "  I  wish  some  of  the 
guys  that  used  to  come  to  Luigi's  could  see  me  now." 

"  And  who  was  Luigi  ? "  asked  Frank,  lighting  his 
pipe  and  stretching  himself  on  a  blanket  before  the  fire. 

"  He  was  the  guy  I  lived  with  after  my  mother  died. 
He  ran  a  gambling  joint,  and  we  was  fixing  the  place  up 
for  women,  too,  when  we  all  got  pinched."  This  very 
boastfully. 

"  Who  were  your  folks,  Enoch?  " 

"  Never  heard  of  none  of  'em.  Luigi's  a  Dago.  He 
wouldn't  have  been  so  bad  if  he  didn't  pinch  the  pennies 
so.  Were  you  ever  in  New  York,  Frank?  "  This  in  a 
patronizing  voice. 

"  Born  there,"  replied  the  guide. 

Nucky  gasped  with  surprise.  "  How'd  you  ever  hap 
pen  to  come  out  here?  " 

"  I  can't  live  anywhere  else  because  of  chronic  asthma. 
I  don't  know  now  that  I'd  want  to  live  anywhere  else. 
I  used  to  kick  against  the  pricks,  but  you  get  more  sense 
as  you  grow  older  —  after  it's  too  late." 

"  I  should  think  you'd  rather  be  dead,"  said  Nucky  sin 
cerely.  "  If  I  thought  I  couldn't  get  back  to  MacDougal 
Street  I'd  want  to  die." 

"  MacDougal  Street  and  the  dice,  I  suppose,  eh  ? 
Enoch,  you're  on  the  wrong  track  and  I  know,  because 
that's  the  track  I  tried  myself.  And  I  got  stung." 


BRIGHT  ANGEL  39 

"  But  — "  began  Nucky. 

"  No  but  about  it.  It's  the  wrong  track  and  you  can't 
get  to  decency  or  happiness  or  contentment  on  it. 
There's  two  things  a  man  can  never  make  anything  real 
out  of ;  cards  or  women." 

"  I  didn't  want  to  make  anything  out  of  women.  I 
want  to  get  even  with  'em,  blank  blank  'em  all,"  cried 
Nucky  with  sudden  fury.  And  he  burst  into  an  obscene 
tirade  against  the  sex  that  utterly  astonished  the  guide. 
He  lay  with  his  chin  supported  on  his  elbow,  staring  at 
the  boy,  at  his  thin,  strongly  marked  features,  and  at 
the  convulsive  working  of  his  throat  as  he  talked. 

"Here!  Dry  up!"  Frank  cried  at  last.  "I'll  bet 
these  canyon  walls  never  looked  down  on  such  a  rotten 
little  cur  as  you  are  in  all  their  history.  You  gambling, 
indecent  little  gutter  snipe,  isn't  there  a  clean  spot  ic 
you?" 

"  You  were  a  gambler  yourself!  "  shrieked  Nucky. 

"  Yes,  sir,  I  know  cards  and  I  know  women,  and  that's 
why  I  know  just  what  a  mess  of  carrion  your  lovely 
young  soul  is.  Any  kid  that  can  see  the  glory  o'  God 
that  you've  seen  to-day  and  then  sit  down  and  talk  like 
an  overflowing  sewer  isn't  fit  to  live.  I  didn't  know 
that  before  1  came  out  to  this  country,  but  I  know  it  now. 
You  get  to  bed.  I  don't  want  to  hear  another  word  out 
of  you  to-night.  Pull  your  boots  off.  That's  all." 

Half  resentful,  half  frightened,  Nucky  obeyed.  For 
a  while,  with  nerves  and  over-tired  muscles  twitching,  he 
lay  watching  the  fire.  Then  he  fell  asleep. 

It  was  about  midnight  when  he  awoke.  He  had 
kicked  the  blankets  off  and  was  cold.  The  fire  was  out 
but  the  full  moon  sailed  high  over  the  gorge.  Frank, 
rolled  in  his  blankets,  his  feet  to  the  dead  fire,  slept 
noisily.  Nucky  sat  up  and  pulled  his  blankets  over  him, 
but  he  did  not  lie  down  again.  He  sat  staring  at  the 
wonder  of  the  Canyon.  For  a  long  half  hour  he  was 
motionless  save  for  the  occasional  moistening  of  his  lips 
and  turning  of  his  head  as  he  followed  the  unbelievable 
contour  of  the  distant  silvered  peaks.  Then  of  a  sud- 


40  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

den  he  jumped  from  his  bed  and,  stooping  over  Frank, 
shook  him  violently. 

"  Wake  up !  "  he  cried.  "  Wake  up !  I  gotta  tell 
somebody  or  the  Canyon'll  drive  me  crazy.  I'll  tell  you 
why  I'm  bad.  It's  because  my  mother  was  bad  before 
me.  She  was  Luigi's  mistress.  She  was  a  bad  lot.  It 
Was  born  in  me." 

Frank  sat  up,  instantly  on  the  alert.  "  How  old  were 
Jrou  when  she  died  ?  "  he  demanded. 

"  Six,"  replied  Nucky. 

"  Shucks !  you  don't  know  anything  about  it,  then ! 
Wlio  told  you  she  was  bad  ?  " 

"  Luigi !     I  guess  he'd  know,  wouldn't  he?  " 

"  Maybe  he  did  and  maybe  he  didn't.  At  any  rate, 
I  wouldn't  take  the  oath  on  his  deathbed  of  a  fellow  who 
ran  a  joint  like  Luigi's  and  taught  a  kid  what  he's  taught 
you.  He  told  you  that,  of  course,  to  keep  a  hold  on 
you." 

"  But  she  lived  with  him.     I  remember  that  myself." 

"  I  can't  help  that.  I'll  bet  you  my  next  year's  pay 
she  wasn't  your  mother !  " 

"  Not  my  mother?  "  Nucky  drew  himself  up  with  a 
long  breath.  "  Certainly  she  was  my  mother." 

Frank  uncovered  some  embers  from  the  ashes  and 
threw  on  wood.  "  I'll  bet  she  wasn't  your  mother,"  he 
repeated  firmly.  "  Seaton  told  me  that  that  policeman 
friend  of  yours  said  she  might  and  might  not  be  your 
mother.  Seaton  and  the  policeman  both  think  she  wasn't., 
and  I'm  with  'em." 

"  But  why?  Why?  "  cried  Nucky  in  an  agony  of  im 
patience. 

"  For  the  simple  reason  that  a  fellow  with  a  face  like 
your's  doesn't  have  a  bad  mother." 

In  the  light  of  the  leaping  flames  Nucky's  face  fell. 
"Aw,  what  you  giving  us!  Sob  stuff?" 

"  I'm  telling  you  something  that's  as  true  as  God.  You 
can't  see  Him  or  talk  to  Him,  but  you  know  He  made 
this  Canyon,  don't  you?  " 

Nucky  nodded  quickly. 


BRIGHT  ANGEL  41 

"  All  right,  then  I'm  telling  you,  every  line  of  your 
face  and  head  says  you  didn't  come  of  a  breed  like  the 
woman  that  lived  with  Luigi.  I'll  bet  if  you  show  you 
have  any  decent  promise,  Seaton  will  clear  that  point  up. 
A  good  detective  could  do  it." 

"  I  never  thought  of  such  a  thing,"  muttered  Nucky. 
He  continued  to  stare  at  Frank,  his  pale  boy's  face  tense 
with  conflicting  hope  and  fear.  The  guide  picked  up  his 
blanket,  but  Nucky  cried  out : 

"  Don't  go  to  sleep  for  a  minute,  please !  I  can't  stand 
it  alone  in  this  moonlight.  I  never  thought  such  thoughts 
in  my  life  as  I  have  down  here,  about  God  and  who  I 
am  and  what  a  human  being  is.  I  tell  you,  I'm  going 
crazy." 

Frank  nodded,  and  began  to  fill  his  pipe.  "  Sit  down 
close  to  the  fire,  son.  That's  what  the  Canyon  does  to 
anybody  that's  thin  skinned.  I  went  through  it  too.  I 
tell  you,  Nucky,  this  life  here  in  the  Canyon  and  the 
thoughts  you  think  here,  are  the  only  real  things.  New 
York  and  all  that,  is  just  the  outer  shell  of  living.  Under 
stand  me  ?  " 

The  boy  nodded,  his  eyes  fixed  on  Frank's  with  piti 
ful  eagerness. 

"  It's  clean  out  here.  This  country  isn't  all  messed 
up  with  men  and  women's  badness.  Everybody  starts 
even  and  with  a  clean  slate.  Lord  knows,  I  was  a  worth 
less  bunch  when  I  struck  here,  fifteen  years  ago.  I'd 
been  expelled  from  Yale  in  my  senior  year  for  gambling. 
I'd  run  through  the  money  my  father'd  left  me.  I'd 
gotten  into  a  woman  scrape  and  I'd  alienated  every  mem 
ber  of  my  family.  Just  why  I  thought  a  deck  of  cards 
was  worth  all  that,  I  can't  tell  you.  But  I  did.  Then 
I  came  down  here  to  see  what  the  Canyon  could  do  for 
my  asthma  and  it  cured  that,  and  by  the  Eternal,  it  cured 
my  soul,  too.  Now  listen  to  me,  son !  You  go  back 
and  lie  down  and  put  yourself  to  sleep  thinking  about 
your  real  mother.  Boys  are  apt  to  take  their  general 
build  from  their  mothers,  so  she  was  probably  a  big 
woman,  not  pretty,  but  with  an  intellectual  face  full  of 


42  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

character.  Go  on,  now,  Enoch !  You  need  the  rest  and 
we've  got  a  full  day  to-morrow." 

Nucky  passed  his  hand  unsteadily  over  his  eyes,  but 
rose  without  a  word,  and  Frank  tucked  him  into  his 
blankets,  then  sat  quietly  waiting  by  the  fire.  It  was  not 
long  before  deep  breaths  that  were  pathetically  near  to 
sobs  told  the  guide  that  Nucky  was  asleep.  Then  he 
rolled  himself  in  his  own  blankets.  The  moon  passed  the 
Canyon  wall  and  utter  darkness  enwrapped  the  Canyon 
and  the  river  which  murmured  harshly  as  it  ran. 

Nucky  wakened  the  next  morning  to  the  smell  of 
coffee.  He  sat  up  and  eyed  Frank  soberly. 

"Hello,  New  York!  This  is  the  Grand  Canyon!" 
Frank  grinned  as  he  lifted  the  coffee  pot  from  the  fire. 

Nucky  grinned  in  response.  Shortly  after,  when  he 
sat  down  to  his  breakfast  the  grin  had  disappeared,  but 
with  it  had  gone  the  look  of  sullenness  that  had  seemed 
habitual. 

"  Frank,"  said  Nucky,  when  breakfast  was  over,  "  do 
you  care  if  I  talk  to  you  some  more  about  —  you  know 
—  you  know  what  you  said  last  night  ?  I  never  talked 
about  it  to  any  one  but  Luigi,  and  it  makes  me  feel  bet 
ter." 

"  Sure,  go  ahead !  "  said  Frank. 

u  My  mother  — "  began  Nucky. 

"  You  mean  Luigi 's  wife,"  corrected  the  guide. 

"  Luigi's  wife  was  crazy  about  me.  She  loved  me 
just  as  much  as  any  mother  could.  Luigi's  always  been 
jealous  about  it.  That's  why  he  treated  me  so  rotten." 

"  Bad  women  can  be  just  as  fond  of  kids  as  good 
women,"  was  Frank's  comment.  "  What  did  she  look 
like?  Can  you  remember?  " 

"  I  don't  know  whether  I  remember  it  or  if  it's  just 
what  folks  told  me.  She  had  dark  blue  eyes  and  dark 
auburn  hair.  Luigi  said  she  was  Italian." 

"If  she  was,  she  was  North  Italian,"  mused  the  guide. 
"  Did  any  one  ever  give  you  any  hints  about  your  fa 
ther?" 

A  slow,  painful  red  crept  over  Nucky 's  pale  face.     "  I 


BRIGHT  ANGEL  43 

never  asked  but  once.     Maybe  you  can  guess  what  Luigi 
said." 

"  If  Luigi  were  in  this  part  of  the  country,"  growled 
Allen,  "  I'd  lead  a  lynching  party  to  call  on  him."  He 
paused,  eying  Nucky's  boyish  face  closely,  then  he  asked, 
"  Did  you  love  your  mother?  " 

"  I  suppose  I  did.  But  Luigi  kept  at  me  so  that  now 
f  hate  her  and  all  other  women.  Mrs.  Seaton  seemed 
•kind  of  nice,  but  I  suppose  she  is  like  the  rest  of  'em." 

"  Don't  you  think  it !  And  did  you  know  that  Seaton 
thinks  you  were  kidnapped?  " 

Nucky  drew  a  quick  breath  and  the  guide  went  on,  "  I 
Shink  so  too.  You  never  belonged  to  an  Italian.  I  can't 
tell  you  just  why  I  feel  so  certain.  But  I'd  take  my  oath 
you  are  of  New  England  stock.  John  Seaton  is  a  first- 
class  lawyer.  As  I  said  to  you  last  night,  if  you  show 
some  decent  spirit,  he'd  try  to  clear  the  matter  up  for 
you." 

Nucky's  blue  eyes  were  as  eager  and  as  wistful  as  a 
little  child's.  His  thin,  mobile  lips  quivered.  "  I  never 
thought  of  such  a  thing,  Frank!  " 

"'  Well,  you'd  better  think  of  it !  Now  then,  you  clean 
up  these  dishes  for  me  while  I  attend  to  the  stock.  I 
want  to  be  off  in  a  half  hour." 

During  the  remainder  of  that  very  strenuous  day, 
Nucky  did  not  refer  again  to  the  matter  so  near  his 
heart.  He  was  quiet,  but  no  longer  sullen,  and  he  was 
boyishly  interested  in  the  wonders  of  the  Canyon.  The 
sun  was  setting  when  they  at  last  reached  the  rim.  For 
an  hour  Nucky  had  not  spoken.  When  Allen  had  turned 
in  the  saddle  to  look  at  the  boy,  Nucky  had  nodded  and 
smiled,  then  returned  to  his  absorbed  watching  of  the 
lights  and  shadows  in  the  Canyon. 

They  dismounted  at  the  corral.  "  Now,  old  man," 
said  Frank,  "  I  want  you  to  go  in  and  tuck  away  a  big 
supper,  take  a  hot  bath  and  go  to  bed.  To-morrow  we'll 
ride  along  the  rim  just  long  enough  to  fight  off  the  worst 
of  the  saddle  stiffness." 

''  All  right!  "  Nucky  nodded.     "  I'm  half  dead,  that's 


44  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

a  fact.  But  I've  got  to  tell  the  clerk  and  the  bell  boy 
a  thing  or  two  before  I  do  anything." 

"  Go  to  it !  "  Frank  laughed,  as  he  followed  the  mules 
through  the  gate. 

Nucky  did  not  open  his  eyes  until  nine  o'clock  the  next 
morning.  When  he  had  finished  breakfast,  he  found  the 
guide  waiting  for  him  in  the  lobby. 

"Hello,  Frank!"  he  shouted.  "Come  on!  Let's 
start!" 

All  that  day,  prowling  through  the  snow  after  Allen, 
Nucky  might  have  been  any  happy  boy  of  fourteen.  It 
was  only  when  Frank  again  left  him  at  dusk  that  his 
face  lengthened. 

"  Can't  I  be  with  you  this  evening,  Frank?  "  he  asked. 

Frank  shook  his  head.  "  I've  got  to  be  with  my  wife 
and  little  girl." 

"  But  why  can't  I  — "  Nucky  hesitated  as  he  caught 
the  look  in  Frank's  face.  "  You'll  never  forget  what  I 
said  about  women,  I  suppose !  " 

"Why  should  I  forget  it?"  demanded  Allen. 

The  sullen  note  returned  to  Nucky's  voice.  "  I 
wouldn't  harm  'em !  " 

"No,  I'll  bet  you  wouldn't!"  returned  Allen  suc 
cinctly. 

Nucky  turned  to  stare  into  the  Canyon.  It  seemed  to 
the  guide  that  it  was  a  full  five  minutes  that  the  boy 
gazed  into  the  drifting  depths  before  he  turned  with  a 
smile  that  was  as  ingenuous  as  it  was  wistful. 

"  Frank,  I  guess  I  made  an  awful  dirty  fool  of  my* 
self!  I  —  I  can't  like  'em,  but  I'll  take  your  word  that 
lots  of  'em  are  good.  And  nobody  will  ever  hear  me 
sling  mud  at  'em  again,  so  help  me  God  —  and  the  Can 
yon!" 

Frank  silently  held  out  his  hand  and  Nucky  grasped 
it.  Then  the  guide  said,  "  You'd  better  go  to  bed  again 
as  soon  as  you've  eaten  your  supper.  By  to-morrow 
you'll  be  feeling  like  a  short  trip  down  Bright  Angel. 
Good-night,  old  top !  " 

When  Nucky  came  out  of  the  hotel  door  the  next 


BRIGHT  ANGEL  45 

morning,  Frank,  with  a  cavalcade  of  mules,  was  waiting 
for  him.  But  he  was  not  alone.  Seated  on  a  small  mule 
was  a  little  girl  of  five  or  six. 

"  Enoch,"  said  Frank,  "  this  is  my  daughter,  Diana. 
She  is  going  down  the  trail  with  us." 

Nucky  gravely  doffed  his  hat,  and  the  little  girl 
laughed,  showing  two  front  teeth  missing  and  a  charm 
ing  dimple. 

"  You've  got  red  hair !  "  she  cried. 

Nucky  grunted,  and  mounted  his  mule. 

"  Diana  will  ride  directly  behind  me,"  said  Frank. 
"  You  follow  her,  Enoch." 

"  Can  that  kid  go  all  the  way  to  the  river?  "  demanded 
Nucky. 

"  She's  been  there  a  good  many  times,"  replied  Frank, 
looking  proudly  at  his  little  daughter. 

She  was  not  an  especially  pretty  child,  but  had  Nucky 
been  a  judge  of  feminine  charms  he  would  have  realized 
that  Diana  gave  promise  of  a  beautiful  womanhood. 
Her  chestnut  hair  hung  in  thick  curls  on  her  shoulders. 
Her  eyes  were  large  and  a  clear  hazel.  Her  skin,  though 
tanned,  was  peculiarly  fine  in  texture.  But  the  greatest 
promise  of  her  future  beauty  lay  in  a  sweetness  of  ex 
pression  in  eye  and  lip  that  was  extraordinary  in  so 
young  a  child.  For  the  rest,  she  was  thin  and  straight 
and  wore  a  boy's  corduroy  suit. 

Diana  feared  the  trail  no  more  than  Nucky  feared 
MacDougal  Street.  She  was  deeply  interested  in  Nucky, 
turning  and  twisting  constantly  in  her  saddle  to  look  at 
him. 

"Do  you  like  your  mule,  Enoch?  He's  a  very  nice 
mule." 

"  Yes,  but  don't  turn  round  or  you'll  fall." 

"  How  can  I  talk  if  I  don't  turn  round?  Do  you  like 
little  girls?" 

"  I  don't  know  any  little  girls.     Turn  round,  Diana!  " 

"  But  you  know  me!  " 

"  I  won't  know  you  long  if  you  don't  sit  still  in  that 
saddle,  Miss." 


46  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  Do  you  like  me,  Enoch  ?  " 

Nucky  groaned.  "  Frank,  if  Diana  don't  quit  twist 
ing,  I'll  fall  myself,  even  if  she  don't !  " 

"  Don't  bother  Enoch,  daughter !  " 

"  I'm  not  bothering  Enoch,  Daddy.  I'm  making  con 
versation.  I  like  him,  even  if  he  has  red  hair." 

Nucky  sighed,  and  tried  to  turn  the  trend  of  the  small 
girl's  ideas. 

"  I'll  bet  you  don't  know  what  kind  of  stone  that  is 
yonder  where  the  giant  dripped  blood." 

"There  isn't  any  giant's  blood!"  exclaimed  Diana 
scornfully.  "That  is  just  red  quartz!" 

"Oh,  and  what's  the  layer  next  to  it?"  demanded 
Nucky  skeptically. 

"  That's  black  basalt,"  answered  the  little  girl.  Then, 
leaning  far  out  of  the  saddle  to  point  to  the  depths  be 
low,  "  and  that  — " 

"  Frank !  "  shouted  Nucky.  "  Diana  is  bound  to  fall ! 
I  just  can't  stand  looking  at  her." 

This  time  Frank  spoke  sternly.  "  Diana,  don't  turn 
to  look  at  Enoch  again !  "  and  the  little  girl  obeyed. 

Had  Nucky  been  other  than  he  was,  he  might  have 
been  amused  and  not  a  little  charmed  by  Diana's  house 
wifely  ways  when  they  made  camp  that  afternoon.  She 
helped  to  kindle  the  fire  and  to  unpack  the  provisions. 
She  lent  a  hand  at  arranging  the  beds  and  set  the  table, 
all  with  eager  docility  and  intelligence.  But  Nucky,  after 
doing  the  chores  Frank  set  him,  wandered  off  to  a  seat 
that  commanded  a  wide  view  of  the  trail,  where  he  re 
mained  in  silent  contemplation  of  the  wonders  before  him 
until  called  to  supper. 

He  was  silent  during  the  meal,  giving  no  heed  to 
Diana's  small  attempts  at  conversation,  and  wandered 
early  to  his  blankets.  In  the  morning,  however,  he  was 
all  boy  again,  even  attempting  once  or  twice  to  tease 
Diana,  in  a  boy's  offhand  manner.  That  small  person, 
however,  had  become  conscious  of  the  fact  that  Enoch 
was  not  interested  in  her,  and  she  had  withdrawn  into 
herself  with  a  pride  and  self-control  that  was  highly 


BRIGHT  ANGEL  47 

amusing  to  her  father.  Nor  did  she  unbend  during  the 
day. 

The  return  trip  was  made  with  but  one  untoward  in 
cident.  This  occurred  after  they  had  reached  the  snow 
line.  Much  of  the  snow  had  thawed  and  by  late  after 
noon  there  was  ice  on  the  trail.  Frank  led  the  way  very 
gingerly  and  the  mules  often  stopped  of  their  own  ac 
cord,  while  the  guide  roughened  the  path  for  them  with 
the  axe.  In  spite  of  this  care,  as  they  rounded  one  last 
upper  curve,  Diana's  mule  slipped,  and  it  was  only  Diana's 
lightning  quickness  in  dismounting  and  the  mule's  skill 
in  throwing  himself  inward  that  saved  them  both. 

Diana  did  not  utter  a  sound,  but  Nucky  gave  a  hoarse 
oath  and,  before  Frank  could  accomplish  it,  Nucky  had 
dismounted,  had  rushed  up  the  trail  and  stood  holding 
Diana  in  his  lank,  boyish  arms,  while  the  mule  regained 
his  foothold. 

"  Now  look  here,  Frank,  Diana  rides  either  in  your 
lap  or  mine!  "  said  Nucky  shortly,  his  face  twitching. 

Frank  raised  his  eyebrows  at  the  boy's  tone.  "  Set 
her  down,  Enoch!  We'll  all  walk  to  the  top.  It's  only 
a  short  distance,  and  the  ice  is  getting  pretty  bad." 

Nucky  obediently  set  the  little  girl  on  her  feet,  and 
Diana  tossed  her  curls  and  followed  her  father  without 
a  word.  And  Frank,  as  he  led  the  procession,  wore  a 
puzzled  grin  on  his  genial  face. 

Exactly  ten  days  after  Nucky's  first  trip  down  Bright 
Angel  trail,  John  Seaton  descended  somewhat  wearily 
from  the  Pullman  that  had  landed  him  once  more  at  the 
Canyon's  rim.  He  had  telegraphed  the  time  of  his  ar 
rival  and  Nucky  ran  up  to  meet  him. 

"  Hello,  Mr.  Seaton !  "  he  said. 

Seaton's  jaw  dropped.  "  What  on  earth — ?  "  Then 
he  grinned. 

Nucky  was  wearing  high  laced  boots,  a  blue  flannel 
shirt,  gauntlet  gloves  and  a  huge  sombrero. 

"  Some  outfit,  Enoch !  Been  down  Bright  Angel 
yet?" 


48  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  Three  times,"  replied  the  bo}',  with  elaborate  careless 
ness.  "  Say,  Mr.  Seaton,  can't  we  stay  one  more  day, 
and  you  take  the  trip  with  us  ?  " 

"  I  think  I  can  arrange  it."  Seaton  was  trying  not  to 
look  at  the  boy  too  sharply.  "  I'll  be  as  sore  as  a  dog, 
for  I  haven't  been  in  a  saddle  since  I  was  out  here  be 
fore.  But  Bright  Angel's  worth  it." 

"Sore!"  Nucky  laughed.  "Say,  Mr.  Seaton,  I  just 
don't  try  to  sit  down  any  more !  " 

They  had  reached  the  hotel  desk  now  and  as  Seaton 
signed  the  register  the  clerk  said,  with  a  wink : 

"If  you'll  leave  young  Huntingdon  behind,  we'll  taks 
him  on  as  a  guide,  Mr.  Seaton." 

Nucky  tossed  his  head.  "  Huh !  and  you  might  get  a 
worse  guide  than  me,  too.  Frank  says  I  got  the  real 
makings  in  me  and  I'll  bet  Frank  knows  more  about 
guiding  than  any  white  in  these  parts.  Navaho  Mike 
told  me  so.  And  Navaho  Mike  says  he  knows  I  could 
make  money  out  here  even  at  fourteen." 

"How,  Enoch?"  asked  Seaton,  as  they  followed  the 
bell  boy  upstairs.  He  was  not  looking  at  Nucky,  for 
fear  he  would  show  surprise.  "How?  at  cards?" 

"Aw,  no!  Placer  mining!  It  don't  cost  much  to 
outfit  and  there's  millions  going  to  waste  in  the  Colorado ! 
Millions!  Frank  and  Mike  say  so.  You  skip,  Billy," — 
this  to  the  bell  boy, — "  I'm  Mr.  Seaton's  bell  hop." 

The  boy  pocketed  the  tip  Nucky  handed  him,  and  closed 
the  door  after  himself.  Nucky  opened  Seaton's  suit 
case. 

"  Shall  I  unpack  for  you?"  he  asked. 

"  No,  thanks,  I  shan't  need  anything  but  my  toilet  case, 
for  I'm  going  to  get  into  an  outfit  like  yours,  barring 
the  hat  and  gloves." 

"  Ain't  it  a  pippin !  "  giving  the  hat  an  admiring  glance. 
"  Frank  gave  it  to  me.  He  has  two,  and  I  rented  the 
things  for  you,  Mr.  Seaton.  Here  they  are,"  opening 
the  closet  door.  "  Shall  I  help  you  with  'em?  Will  you 
take  a  ride  along  the  rim  now?  Shall  I  get  the  horses? 


BRIGHT  ANGEL  49 

Now  ?  I'll  be  waiting  for  you  at  the  main  entrance  with 
the  best  pony  in  the  bunch." 

He  slammed  out  of  the  room.  John  Seaton  scratched 
his  head  after  he  had  shaken  it  several  times,  and  made 
himself  ready  for  his  ride.  Frank  rapped  on  the  door 
before  he  had  finished  and  came  in,  smiling. 

"Well,  I  understand  you're  to  be  taken  riding!"  he 
said. 

"  For  the  love  of  heaven,  Frank,  what  have  you  done 
to  the  boy?" 

"Me?  Nothing!  It  was  the  Canyon.  Let  me  tell 
you  about  that  first  trip."  And  he  told  rapidly  but  in 
detail,  the  story  of  Nucky's  first  two  days  in  the  Can 
yon. 

Seaton  listened  with  an  absorbed  interest.  "  Has  he 
spoken  of  his  mother  to  you  since?"  he  asked,  when 
Frank  had  finished. 

"  No,  and  he  probably  never  will  again.  Do  you  think 
you  can  clear  the  matter  up  for  him?  " 

"  I'll  certainly  try!     Do  you  like  the  boy,  Frank?  " 

"  Yes,  I  do.  I  think  he's  got  the  real  makings  in  him. 
Better  leave  him  out  here  with  me,  Seaton." 

Seaton's  face  fell.  "I  —  I  hoped  he'd  want  to  stick 
by  me.  But  the  decision  is  up  to  the  boy.  If  he  wants 
to  stay  out  here,  I'll  raise  no  objections." 

"  I'm  sure  it  would  be  better  for  him,"  said  Frank. 
"  Gambling  is  a  persistent  disease.  He's  got  years  of 
struggle  ahead  of  him,  no  matter  where  he  goes." 

"  I  know  that,  of  course.  Well,  we'll  take  the  trip 
down  the  trail  to-morrow  before  we  try  to  make  any 
decisions.  I  must  go  along  now.  He's  waiting  for 
me." 

"  Better  put  cotton  in  one  ear,"  suggested  Allen,  with 
a  smile. 

The  ride  was  a  long  and  pleasant  one.  John  Seaton 
gave  secondary  heed  to  the  shifting  grandeur  of  the 
views,  for  he  was  engrossed  by  his  endeavor  to  replace 
the  sullen,  unboyish  Nucky  he  had  known  with  this  vol- 


ro  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

uble,  high  strung  and  entirely  adolescent  person  who 
bumped  along  the  trail  regardless  of  weariness  or  the 
hour. 

The  trip  down  Bright  Angel  the  next  day  was  an  un 
qualified  success.  They  took  old  Funny  Face  and  camped 
for  the  night.  After  supper,  Frank  muttered  an  excuse 
and  wandered  off  toward  the  mules,  leaving  Nucky  and 
Seaton  by  the  fire. 

"  Frank  thinks  you  ought  to  stay  out  here  with  him, 
Enoch,''  said  Seaton. 

"  What  did  you  say  to  him  when  he  told  you  that?  " 
asked  Nucky  eagerly. 

"  I  said  I  hoped  you'd  go  back  to  New  York  with  me, 
but  that  the  decision  was  up  to  you." 

Nucky  said  nothing  for  the  moment.  Seaton  watched 
the  fire  glow  on  the  boy's  strong  face.  When  Nucky 
looked  up  at  his  friend,  his  eyes  were  embarrassed  and  a 
little  miserable. 

"  Did  Frank  tell  you  about  our  talk  down  here?  " 

Seaton  nodded. 

"  Do  you  know  ?  "  the  boy's  voice  trembled  with  eager* 
ness.  "Was  she  my  mother?" 

"  Foley  thinks  not.  He  says  she  spoke  with  an  accent 
he  thought  was  Italian.  When  I  get  back  to  New  York 
I'll  do  what  I  can  to  clear  the  matter  up  for  you.  Queer, 
isn't  it,  that  human  beings  crave  to  know  even  the  worst 
about  their  breed." 

"  I  got  to  know !  I  got  to  know !  Mr.  Seaton,  I  ran 
away  from  Luigi  one  time.  I  guess  I  was  about  eight. 
I  wanted  to  live  in  the  country.  And  I  got  as  far  as 
Central  Park  before  they  found  me.  He  got  the  police 
on  my  trail  right  off.  And  when  he  had  me  back  in 
Minetta  Lane,  first  he  licked  me  and  then  he  told  me 
how  bad  my  mother  was,  and  he  said  if  folks  knew  it, 
they'd  spit  on  me  and  throw  me  out  of  school,  and  that 
I  was  lower  than  any  low  dog.  And  he  told  me  if  I 
did  exactly  what  he  said  he'd  never  let  any  one  know, 
but  if  I  didn't  he'd  go  over  and  tell  Miss  Brannigan. 
She  was  a  teacher  I  was  awful  fond  of,  and  he'd  tell  the 


BRIGHT  ANGEL  51 

police,  and  he'd  tell  all  the  kids.     And  after  that  he  was 
always  telling  me  awful  low  things  about  my  mother — " 

Seaton  interrupted  firmly.  "  Not  your  mother.  Call 
her  Luigi's  wife." 

Nucky  moistened  his  lips.  "  Luigi's  wife.  And  it 
used  to  drive  me  crazy.  And  he  told  me  all  women  was 
like  that  only  some  less  and  some  worse.  Mr.  Seaton, 
is  that  true?  " 

"  Enoch,  it's  a  contemptible,  unspeakable  lie !  The 
majority  of  women  are  pure  and  sweet  as  no  man  can 
hope  to  be.  I'd  like  to  kill  Luigi,  blast  his  soul!  " 

"  Maybe  you  don't  know !  "  persisted  Nucky. 

"  I  know !  And  what's  more,  when  we  get  back  to 
New  York,  I'll  prove  it  to  you.  The  world  is  full  of 
clean,  honest,  kindly  people,  Enoch.  I'll  prove  it  to  you, 
old  man,  if  you'll  give  me  the  chance." 

"  But  if  she  was  my  mother,  how  can  I  help  being  rot 
ten?" 

"  Look  here,  Enoch,  a  fellow  might  have  the  rottenest 
mother  and  rottenest  father  on  earth,  but  the  Lord  will 
start  the  fellow  out  with  a  clean  slate,  just  the  same. 
Folks  aren't  born  bad.  You  can't  inherit  your  parents' 
badness.  You  could  inherit  their  weak  wills,  for  in 
stance,  and  if  you  live  in  Minetta  Lane  where  there's 
only  badness  about  you,  your  weak  will  wouldn't  let 
you  stand  out  against  the  badness.  But  you  can't  inherit 
evil.  If  that  were  possible,  humanity  would  have  de 
generated  to  utter  brutality  long  ago.  And,  Enoch,  you 
haven't  inherited  even  a  weak  will.  You're  as  obstinate 
as  old  Funny  Face !  " 

"  Then  you  think  — "  faltered  the  boy. 

"  I  don't  think !  I  know  that  you  come  of  fine,  up 
standing  stock!  And  it's  about  time  you  moved  out  of 
Minetta  Lane  and  gave  your  good  blood  a  chance!  " 

Enoch's  lips  quivered,  and  he  turned  his  head  toward 
the  fire.  Seaton  waited,  patiently.  After  a  while  he 
said,  "  Enoch,  the  most  important  thing  in  a  man's  life 
is  his  philosophy.  What  do  you  think  life  is  for?  By 
what  principles  do  you  think  a  man  ought  to  be  guided? 


52  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

Do  you  think  that  the  underlying  purpose  of  life  is  dog 
eat  dog,  every  man  for  himself,  by  whatever  method? 
That's  your  gamblers  philosophy.  Or  do  you  think 
we're  put  here  to  make  life  better  than  we  found  it? 
That  was  Abraham  Lincoln's  philosophy.  Before  you 
decide  for  the  Grand  Canyon  or  for  New  York,  you 
ought  to  discover  your  philosophy.  Do  you  see  what 
I'm  driving  at?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Nucky,  "  and  I  don't  have  to  wait  to  dis 
cover  it,  for  I've  done  that  this  week.  I  want  to  go  into 
politics  so  I  can  clean  out  Minetta  Lane." 

Seaton  looked  at  the  lad  keenly.  "  Good  work,  Nucky, 
old  man !  " 

The  boy  spoke  quickly.  "  Don't  call  me  Nucky !  I'm 
Enoch,  from  now  on !  " 

"From  now  on,  where?"  asked  Frank,  strolling  into 
the  firelight. 

"  New  York!  "  replied  Enoch.  "  I'd  rather  stay  here, 
but  I  got  to  go  back." 

"  Mr.  Seaton,  have  you  been  using  bribery?  "  Frank 
was  half  laughing,  half  serious. 

"  Wdl,  nothing  as  attractive  as  guiding  on  Bright  An 
gel  trail !  "  exclaimed  John. 

"  And  that's  the  only  job  I  was  ever  offered  I  really 
wanted!  "  cried  Enoch  ruefully. 

The  men  both  laughed,  and  suddenly  the  boy  joined 
them,  laughing  long  and  a  little  hysterically.  "  O  gee !  " 
he  said  at  last,  "  I  feel  as  free  and  light  as  air!  I  got 
to  take  a  run  up  and  down  the  sand,"  and  a  moment 
later  they  heard  his  whistle  above  the  endless  rushing  of 
the  Colorado. 

"  Ideas  are  important  things,"  said  Seaton,  thought 
fully.  "  Such  a  one  as  that  beast  Luigi  has  planted  in 
Enoch's  mind  can  warp  his  entire  life.  He  evidently  is 
of  a  morbidly  sensitive  temperament,  proud  to  a  fault, 
high  strung  and  introspective.  Until  some  one  can  prove 
to  him  that  his  mother  was  not  a  harlot,  he'll  never  be 
entirely  normal.  And  it's  been  my  observation  that  one 
of  the  most  fundamentally  weakening  things  for  a  boy's 


BRIGHT  ANGEL  53 

character  is  his  not  being  able  to  respect  his  father  or 
mother.  Luigi  caught  Enoch  when  his  mind  was  like 
modeling  clay." 

"  Do  you  think  you  can  clear  the  matter  up?  "  asked 
Frank. 

"  I'll  try  my  utmost.  It's  going  to  be  hard,  for  Fo- 
ley's  no  fool,  and  he's  done  a  lot  of  work  on  it  with  no 
results.  If  I  don't  settle  the  matter,  Enoch  is  going  to 
be  hag-ridden  by  Minetta  Lane  all  his  life.  I  know  of 
a  chap  who  was  lame  for  twenty  years  because  when  he 
was  about  ten,  he  had  a  series  of  extraordinarily  vivid 
dreams  portraying  a  curious  accident  that  he  was  not  able 
to  distinguish  from  actual  happenings.  It  was  not  until 
he  was  a  man  and  had  accidentally  come  in  contact  with 
a  psychologist  who  analyzed  the  thing  down  to  facts  for 
him  that  he  was  cured.  I  could  cite  you  a  hundred  cases 
like  this  where  the  crippling  was  mental  as  well  as  phys 
ical.  And  nothing  but  an  absolute  and  tangible  proof  of 
the  falsity  of  the  idea  will  make  a  cure.  Some  day  there 
are  going  to  be  doctors  who  will  handle  nothing  but 
ideas." 

"The  boy's  worth  saving!"  Frank  lighted  his  pipe 
thoughtfully.  "  There's  a  power  of  will  there  for  good 
or  evil  that  can't  be  ignored.  And  I  have  faith  in  any 
one  the  Canyon  gets  a  real  grip  on.  It  sure  has  got 
this  boy.  I  never  saw  a  more  marked  case." 

The  lawyer  nodded  and  both  men  sat  smoking,  their 
eyes  on  the  distant  rim. 


BOOK  II 
THE  SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR 


CHAPTER  III 

TWENTY-TWO    YEARS    LATER 

"  It  sometimes  seemed  to  me  that  the  Colorado  said 
as  it  rushed  through  the  Canyon,  '  Nothing  matters ! 
Nothing !  Nothing ! ' ' 

—  Enoch's  Diary. 

ONE  burning  morning  in  July,  Jonas,  in  a  cool  gray 
seersucker  suit,  his  black  face  dripping  with  per 
spiration,  was  struggling  with  the  electric  fan  in  the  pri 
vate  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior.  The  win 
dows  were  wide  open  and  the  hideous  uproar  of  street 
traffic  rilled  the  room.  It  was  a  huge,  high-ceilinged 
apartment,  with  portraits  of  former  Secretaries  on  the 
walls.  The  Secretary's  desk,  a  large,  polished  conference 
table,  and  various  leather  chairs,  with  a  handsome  Orien 
tal  rug,  completed  the  furnishings. 

As  Jonas  struggled  vainly  with  the  fan,  a  door  from 
the  outer  office  opened  and  a  young  man  appeared  with 
the  day's  mail.  Charley  Abbott  was  nearing  thirty  but 
he  looked  like  a  college  boy.  He  was  big  and  broad  and 
blonde,  with  freckles  disporting  themselves  frankly  on  a 
nose  that  was  still  upturned.  His  eyes  were  set  well 
apart  and  his  lips  were  frank.  He  placed  a  great  pile 
of  opened  letters  on  Enoch's  desk. 

"  Better  peg  along,  Jonas,"  he  said.  "  The  Secre 
tary's  due  in  a  minute !  " 

Jonas  gathered  the  fan  to  his  breast  and  scuttled  out 
the  side  door  as  Enoch  Huntingdon  came  in  at  the  Secre 
tary's  private  entrance. 

The  years  had  done  much  for  Enoch.  He  stood  six 
feet  one  in  his  socks.  He  was  not  heavy  but  still  had 
something  of  the  rangy  look  of  his  boyhood.  He  was 
big  boned  and  broad  chested.  College  athletics  had  de- 

sr 


58  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

veloped  his  lungs  and  flattened  his  shoulder  blades.  His 
hair  was  copper-colored,  vaguely  touched  with  gray  at 
the  temples  and  very  thick  and  unruly.  His  features  were 
still  rough  hewn  but  time  had  hardened  their  immaturity 
to  a  rugged  incisiveness.  His  cheek  bones  were  high  and 
his  cheeks  were  slightly  hollowed.  His  eyes  were  a  burn 
ing,  brilliant  blue,  deep  set  under  overhanging  brows. 
His  mouth  was  large,  thin  lipped  and  exceedingly  sensi 
tive;  the  mouth  of  the  speaker.  He  wore  a  white  linen 
suit. 

"  Good  morning,  Mr.  Abbott,"  he  said,  dropping  his 
panama  hat  on  a  corner  of  the  conference  table. 

"  Good  morning,  Mr.  Secretary !  I  hope  you  are 
rested  after  yesterday.  Seems  to  me  that  was  as  hard 
a  day  as  we  ever  had." 

Enoch  dropped  into  his  chair.  "  Was  it  really  harder, 
Abbott,  or  was  it  this  frightful  weather?" 

"  Well,  we  didn't  have  more  appointments  than  usual, 
but  some  of  them  were  unusually  trying.  That  woman 
who  wanted  to  be  reappointed  to  the  Pension  Office,  for 
example." 

Enoch  nodded.  "  I'd  rather  see  Satan  come  into  this 
office  than  a  woman.  Try  to  head  them  off,  Abbott, 
whenever  you  can." 

"  I  always  do,  sir !  Will  you  run  through  this  cor 
respondence,  Mr.  Huntingdon,  before  I  call  in  the  Idaho 
contingent  ?  " 

Enoch  began  rapidly  to  read  letters  and  to  dictate  terse 
replies.  They  were  not  more  than  a  third  of  the  way 
down  the  pile  when  a  buzzer  sounded.  Enoch  looked  up 
inquiringly. 

"  I  told  Jonas  to  buzz  for  me  at  9 :2O,"  explained  young 
Abbott.  "  I  don't  dare  keep  the  people  in  the  waiting- 
room  watching  the  clock  longer  than  that.  We'll  fit 
this  in  at  odd  times,  as  usual.  Remember,  Mr.  Secre 
tary,  you  can't  give  these  people  more  than  fifteen  min 
utes.  Shall  I  come  in  and  speak  to  you,  at  that  time?" 

"  Perhaps  you'd  better,"  replied  Enoch. 

Abbott  opened  the  door  into  the  outer  room.     "  Gen- 


TWENTY-TWO  YEARS  LATER          59 

ttemen,  the  Secretary  will  receive  you,"  he  said.  "  Mr. 
Secretary,  allow  me  to  present  Mr.  Reeves,  Mr.  Carle- 
ton,  Mr.  Schmidt,  Mr.  Dunkel,  Mr.  Street,  Mr.  Swift- 
water  and  Mr.  Manges." 

The  men  filing  into  the  room  bowed  and  mumbled. 
Enoch  looked  after  Abbott's  retreating  back  admiringly. 
"  I've  been  hearing  Abbott  do  that  sort  of  thing  for  two 
years,  but  it  never  fails  to  rouse  my  admiration,"  he 
said. 

"A  wonderful  memory!"  commented  one  of  the  vis 
itors. 

"  Abbott  is  going  into  politics  later,"  Enoch  went  on. 
"  A  memory  such  as  his  will  carry  him  far." 

"  Not  as  far  as  a  silver  tongue,"  suggested  another 
man,  with  a  twinkle  in  his  eye. 

"  That  remains  to  be  seen,"  smiled  Enoch.  He  had 
a  very  pleasant  smile,  showing  even,  white  teeth.  "  Well, 
gentlemen,  what  can  I  do  for  you  ?  " 

"  Mr.  Secretary,"  said  the  spokesman  of  the  delega 
tion,  "  as  you  know,  we  represent  the  business  men  of 
the  State  of  Idaho.  There  is  a  very  bitter  controversy 
going  on  in  our  State  over  your  recent  ruling  on  the 
matter  of  Water  Power  Control.  We  believe  your  rul 
ing  works  an  injustice  on  the  business  men  of  our  state 
and  as  nothing  came  of  correspondence,  we  thought  we'd 
come  along  East  and  have  a  talk  with  you." 

"  I'm  glad  you  did,"  said  Enoch.  "  You  see,  my  work 
is  of  such  a  nature  that  unless  you  people  on  the  firing 
line  keep  in  touch  with  me,  I  may  go  astray  on  the  prac 
tical,  human  side.  You  are  all  States'  Rights  men,  of 
course." 

The  delegation  nodded. 

"  My  ideas  on  Water  Power  are  simple  enough,"  said 
Enoch.  "  The  time  is  approaching  when  oil,  gas,  and 
coal  will  not  supply  the  power  needed  in  America.  We 
shall  have  to  turn  more  and  more  to  electricity  produced 
by  water  power.  There  is  enough  water  in  the  streams 
of  this  country  to  turn  every  wheel  in  every  district. 
But  it  must  be  harnessed,  and  after  it  is  harnessed  at 


60  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

must  be  sold  to  the  people,  at  a  just  price.  What  I  want 
to  do  is  to  produce  all  the  available  water  power  latent 
in  our  waterways.  Then  I  want  the  poorest  people  in 
America  to  have  access  to  it.  There  is  enough  power 
at  a  price  possible  even  to  the  poorest." 

"  We  all  agree  with  you  so  far,  Mr.  Secretary,"  said 
the  chairman  of  the  delegation. 

"  I  thought  you  would !  "  Enoch's  beautiful  voice  had 
a  curious  dignity  for  all  its  geniality.  "  Now  my  policy 
aims  to  embody  the  idea  that  the  men  who  develop  the 
water  power  of  America  shall  not  develop  for  themselves 
and  their  associates  a  water  power  monopoly." 

"  We  fear  that  as  much  as  you  do,  Mr.  Secretary," 
said  one  of  the  delegates.  "  But  let  the  state  control 
that.  We  fear  too  much  bureaucracy  and  centralization 
of  authority  here  in  Washington.  And  don't  forget,  if 
it  came  to  a  scratch,  we  could  say  to  Uncle  Sam,  you  own 
the  stream,  but  you  shan't  use  a  street  or  a  town  facility 
reaching  it." 

Enoch  raised  his  eyebrows.  "  Uncle  Sam  doesn't  want 
more  power.  If  the  states  had  not  been  so  careless  and 
so  corrupt  in  regard  to  their  public  lands  and  their  wa 
ters,  there  would  be  no  need  now  for  the  Department  of 
the  Interior  to  assert  its  authority.  Show  me,  Mr.  Dele 
gate,  that  there  are  neither  politics  nor  monopolistic 
dreams  in  Idaho's  attitude  toward  her  Water  Power  prob 
lem  and  I'd  begin  to  de-centralize  our  policy  toward 
your  state." 

Abbott  opened  the  door  and  tip-toed  to  Enoch's  desk. 
"  I'm  sorry,  Mr.  Secretary,"  he  said  softly,  "  but  Senator 
Far  has  been  waiting  five  minutes." 

"  I'm  sorry  too,"  replied  Enoch.  "  Gentlemen,  we 
have  used  up  the  time  allotted.  Will  you  make  arrange 
ments  with  Mr.  Abbott  for  a  longer  conference,  to-mor 
row  ?  Come  back  with  the  proofs !  "  He  smiled,  and 
the  gentlemen  from  Idaho  smiled  in  return,  but  a  little 
ruefully.  The  last  one  had  not  turned  his  back  when 
Enoch  began  an  attack  on  the  pile  of  letters. 


TWENTY-TWO  YEARS  LATER          61 

A  ruddy-faced,  -much  wrinkled  man  appeared  in  the 
door. 

"  Senator  Far,  Mr.  Secretary,"  announced  Abbott. 
Enoch  rose  and  held  out  his  hand.  "  Senator,  you  look 
warm.  Oh,  Abbott,  tell  Jonas  to  turn  on  the  fan.  What 
can  I  do  for  Arkansas,  Senator?  " 

Jonas  came  in  hurriedly.  "  Mr.  Secretary,  that  fan's 
laid  down  on  me.  How  come  it  to  do  it,  I  haven't  found 
out  yet.  I  tried  to  borrow  one  from  a  friend  of  mine, 
but—" 

"  Never  mind,  Jonas,"  said  Enoch.  "  I  don't  expect 
you  to  be  an  electrician.  Perhaps  the  power's  still  off 
in  the  building.  I  noticed  there  were  no  lights  when  I 
came  in." 

Jonas'  eyes  grew  as  big  as  saucers.  "  It  sure  takes 
brains  to  be  a  Secretary,"  he  muttered,  as  he  turned  to 
hurry  from  the  room. 

The  two  men  grinned  at  each  other.  "  What  I  wanted 
was  an  appointment  for  a  friend  of  mine,"  said  Senator 
Far.  "  He's  done  a  lot  for  the  party  and  I  want  to  get 
him  into  the  Reclamation  Service/' 

"  He's  an  engineer?  "  asked  Enoch,  lighting  the  cigar 
the  Senator  gave  him. 

"  I  don't  think  so.  He's  been  playing  politics  ever 
since  I  knew  him.  He  has  a  good  following  in  the 
state." 

"  Why  the  Reclamation  Service  then !  By  the  eternal, 
Senator,  can't  you  fellows  leave  one  department  clear 
of  the  spoils  system?  I'm  here  to  tell  you,  I'm  proud 
of  the  Service.  It's  made  up  of  men  with  brains.  They 
get  their  jobs  on  pure  ability.  And  you  fellows — " 

"  Oh,  all  right,  Mr.  Huntingdon!  "  interrupted  Senator 
Far,  rising,  "  I'm  always  glad  to  know  where  you  stand ! 
Good  morning!  " 

He  hurried  from  the  room  and  Enoch  sighed,  looked 
out  of  the  window,  then  read  a  half  dozen  letters  before 
Abbott  announced  the  next  caller,  a  man  who  wanted 
his  pension  increased  and  who  had  managed  to  reach 


62  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

the  Secretary  through  a  letter  from  the  president  of  a 
great  college.  Then  followed  at  five  and  ten  minute  in 
tervals  a  man  from  Kansas  who  had  ideas  on  the  allot 
ment  of  Indian  lands;  a  Senator  who  wanted  light  on  a 
bill  the  Secretary  wished  introduced ;  a  man  from  Alaska 
who  objected  to  the  government's  attitude  on  Alaskan 
coal  mines;  the  chairman  of  a  State  Central  Committee 
who  wanted  three  appointments,  and  a  well  known  en 
gineer  who  had  a  grievance  against  the  Patent  Office. 
Followed  these,  an  hour's  conference  with  the  Attorney 
General  regarding  the  New  Pension  Bill,  and  at  noon  a 
conference  with  the  head  of  the  Reclamation  Service  on 
the  matter  of  a  new  dam. 

When  this  conference  was  over,  Enoch  once  more  at 
tacked  the  correspondence  pile  which,  during  the  morn 
ing,  having  been  constantly  fed  by  the  indefatigable  Ab 
bott,  was  now  of  overwhelming  proportions.  It  was 
nearly  two  o'clock  when  Jonas,  having  popped  his  head 
in  and  out  of  the  door  a  half  dozen  times,  evidently  wait 
ing  for  the  Boss  to  look  up,  entered  the  room  with  a 
tray. 

"  Luncheon  is  served,  sir,"  he  said. 

"  Put  it  right  here,  Jonas."  Enoch  did  not  raise  his 
head. 

Jonas  set  the  tray  firmly  on  the  conference  table. 
"  No,  sir,  Mr.  Secretary,  I  ain't  goin'  to  sit  it  there. 
You're  going  to  git  up  and  come  over  here  and  keep  your 
mind  on  your  food.  How  come  you  think  you  got  iron 
insides?  " 

Enoch  sighed.  "  All  right,  Jonas,  I'm  coming."  He 
rose,  stretched  and  moved  over  to  the  table.  The  man 
ceremoniously  pulled  out  a  chair  for  him,  then  lifted  the 
towel  from  the  tray  and  hung  it  over  his  arm.  On  the 
tray  were  a  bottle  of  milk,  a  banana  and  some  shredded 
wheat  biscuit,  with  two  cigars. 

"  Any  time  you  want  me  to  change  your  lunch,  Mr. 
Secretary,  you  say  so,"  said  Jonas. 

Enoch  laughed.  "  Jonas,  old  man,  how  long  have  I 
been  eating  this  fodder  for  lunch  ?  " 


TWENTY-TWO  YEARS  LATER          63 

"  Ever  since  you  was  Secretary  to  the  Mayor,  boss !  " 

"  And  how  many  times  do  you  suppose  you've  told  me 
you  were  willing  to  change  it,  Jonas  ?  " 

"  Every  time,  boss.  How  come  you  think  I  like  to 
see  a  smart  man  like  you  living  on  baby  food?  " 

Enoch  grunted.  "  And  how  many  times  have  I  told 
you  the  only  way  for  me  to  live  through  the  banquets  I 
have  to  attend  is  to  keep  to  this  sort  of  thing  when  I  am 
alone?" 

Jonas  did  not  reply.  Enoch's  simple  lunches  never 
ceased  to  trouble  him. 

"  Where  do  I  go  to-night,  Jonas?  " 

"  The  British  Ambassador's,  Mr.  Secretary." 

Enoch  finished  his  lunch  rapidly  and  had  just  lighted 
the  first  of  the  cigars  when  Abbott  appeared. 

"  There's  a  woman  out  here  from  the  Sunday  Times, 
Mr.  Secretary.  She  wants  to  interview  you  on  your 
ideas  on  marriage.  She  has  a  letter  from  Senator 
Brownlee  or  I  wouldn't  have  disturbed  you.  She  looks 
as  if  she  could  make  trouble,  if  she  wanted  to." 

"  Tell  her  I'm  sorry,  but  that  I  have  no  ideas  about 
marriage  and  that  Jonas  is  as  near  a  wife  as  I  care  to 
get.  He  henpecks  me  enough,  don't  you,  Jonas,  old 
man!  Abbott,  just  remember,  once  for  all,  I  won't  see 
the  women." 

"  Very  well,"  replied  Abbott.  "  Will  you  dictate  a 
few  moments  on  your  report  to  the  President  on  the 
Pension  controversy?" 

"  Yes!  "  Enoch  pulled  a  handful  of  notes  out  of  his 
pocket  and  began  to  dictate  clearly  and  rapidly.  For 
ten  minutes  his  voice  rose  steadily  above  the  raucous 
uproar  that  floated  in  at  the  window.  Then  the  telephone 
rang.  Abbott  answered  it. 

"  The  White  House,  Mr.  Secretary,"  he  said. 

Enoch  picked  up  the  receiver.  After  a  few  moments' 
conversation  he  rose,  his  face  eager. 

"  Abbott,  the  Mexican  trouble  appears  to  be  coming 
to  a  crisis  and  the  President  has  called  a  cabinet  meeting. 
I  doubt  if  I  can  get  back  here  until  after  five.  Will  you 


64  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

express  my  regrets  to  the  Argentine  delegation  and  make 
a  new  appointment?  Is  there  any  one  in  the  waiting- 
room  ?  " 

"  Six  people.  I  can  get  rid  of  them  all  except  Alton 
of  the  Bureau  of  Mines.  I  think  you  must  see  him." 

"  Send  him  in,"  said  Enoch.  "  I'll  ask  him  to  ride  as 
far  as  the  White  House  with  me.  And  I'll  be  back  to 
finish  the  letters,  Abbott.  I  dare  not  let  them  accumulate 
a  single  day." 

Abbott  nodded  and  hurried  out.  A  tall,  bronzed  man, 
wiping  the  sweat  from  his  bald  head,  came  in  just  as 
Jonas  announced,  "  The  carriage,  Mr.  Secretary." 

"  Come  along,  Alton,"  said  Enoch.  "  We'll  talk  your 
model  coal  mine  as  we  go." 

It  was  six  o'clock  when  Enoch  appeared  again  in  his 
office.  His  linen  suit  was  wrinkled  and  sweat  stained 
between  the  shoulders.  He  tossed  his  hat  on  a  chair. 

"  Abbott,  will  you  telephone  Sefior  Juan  Cadiz  and 
ask  him  to  meet  me  at  my  house  at  ten  thirty  to-night? 
He  is  at  the  Willard.  Tell  Jonas  to  interrupt  us  promptly 
at  seven.  I  mustn't  be  late  to  dinner.  Now,  for  this 
mess." 

Once  more  he  began  the  attack  on  the  day's  mail,  which 
Abbott  had  already  reduced  to  its  lowest  dimensions. 
Enoch  worked  with  a  power  of  concentration  and  a  quick 
decisiveness  that  were  ably  seconded  by  Charley  Abbott. 
It  was  a  quarter  before  seven  when  Enoch  picked  up  he 
last  letter.  He  read  it  through  rapidly,  then  laid  it  down 
slowly,  and  stared  out  of  the  window  for  a  long  moment. 
Abbott  gave  his  chief's  face  a  quick  glance,  then  softly 
shoved  under  his  hand  the  pile  of  letters  that  were  wait 
ing  signature.  The  letter  that  Enoch  had  just  read  was 
dated  at  the  Grand  Canyon. 

"  Dear  Mr.  Secretary,"  it  ran,  "  it  is  twenty-two  years 
since  I  took  a  red-headed  New  York  boy  down  Bright 
Angel  trail.  You  and  I  have  never  heard  from  each 
other  since,  but,  naturally  I  have  followed  your  career 
with  interest.  And  now  I'm  going  to  ask  a  favor  of 


TWENTY-TWO  YEARS  LATER          65 

you.  My  daughter  Diana  wants  a  job  in  the  Indian 
Bureau  and  she's  coming  to  Washington  to  see  you. 
Don't  give  her  a  job!  She  doesn't  have  to  work.  I  can 
take  care  of  her.  I'm  an  old  man  and  selfish  and  I  don't 
like  to  be  deprived  of  my  daughter  for  my  few  remaining 
years. 

"  With  heart-felt  congratulations  on  your  great  career, 
"  I  am  yours  most  respectfully, 

"  FRANK  ALLEN." 

Enoch  drew  a  deep  breath  and  took  up  his  fountain 
pen.  He  signed  with  a  rapid,  illegible  scrawl  that  to 
ward  the  end  of  the  pile  became  a  mere  hieroglyphic. 
Jonas  put  his  black  face  in  at  the  door  just  as  he  finished 
the  last. 

"  Coming,  Jonas  !  "  said  the  Secretary.  "  By  the  way, 
Abbott,  I'll  answer  that  letter  from  Frank  Allen  the  first 
thing  in  the  morning.  Good  night,  old  man !  Rather  a 
lighter  day  than  yesterday,  eh  ?  " 

"  Yes,  indeed,  Mr.  Secretary ! "  agreed  Abbott,  as 
Enoch  picked  up  his  hat  and  went  hastily  out  the  door 
Jonas  held  open  for  him. 

It  was  seven  twenty  when  Enoch  reached  home.  His 
house  was  small,  with  a  lawn  about  the  size  of  a  saucer 
in  front,  and  a  back  yard  entirely  monopolized  by  a  tiny 
magnolia  tree.  Enoch  rented  the  house  furnished  and 
it  was  full  of  the  home  atmosphere  created  by  the  former 
diplomat's  wife  from  whom  he  leased  it.  Jonas  was  his 
steward  and  his  valet.  While  other  servants  came  and 
went,  Jonas  was  there  forever.  He  followed  Enoch  up 
stairs  and  turned  on  the  bath  water,  then  hurried  to  lay 
out  evening  clothes.  During  the  entire  process  of  dress 
ing  the  two  men  did  not  exchange  a  word  but  Jonas 
heaved  a  sigh  of  satisfaction  when  at  ten  minutes  before 
eight  he  opened  the  hall  door.  Enoch  smiled,  patted  him 
on  the  shoulders  and  ran  down  the  stairs. 

A  dinner  at  the  British  Ambassador's  was  always  ex 
ceedingly  formal  as  to  food  and  service,  exceedingly  in 
formal  as  to  conversation.  Enoch  took  in  a  woman  nov- 


66  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

elist,  a  woman  a  little  past  middle  age  who  was  very 
small  and  very  famous. 

"  Well,"  she  said,  as  she  pulled  off  her  globes,  "  I've 
been  wanting  to  meet  you  for  a  long  time/' 

"  I'm  not  difficult  to  meet,"  returned  Enoch,  with  a 
smile. 

"  As  to  that  I've  had  no  personal  experience  but  three 
several  friends  of  mine  have  been  trampled  upon  by  your 
secretary.  They  all  were  women,  of  course." 

"  Why,  of  course?  "  demanded  Enoch. 

"  One  of  the  qualities  that  is  said  to  make  you  so  at 
tractive  to  my  sex  is  that  you  are  a  woman  hater.  Now 
just  why  do  you  hate  us  ?  " 

"  I  don't  hate  women."  Enoch  spoke  with  simple  sin 
cerity.  "  I'm  afraid  of  them." 

"Why?" 

"  I  don't  think  I  really  know.     Do  you  like  men  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  do,"  replied  Mrs.  Rotherick  promptly. 

"Why?  "asked  Enoch. 

"  They  aren't  such  cats  as  women,"  she  chuckled. 
"  Perhaps  cat  fear  is  your  trouble !  What  are  you  going 
to  do  about  Mexico,  Mr.  Huntingdon?" 

Enoch  smiled.  "  I  told  the  President  at  great  length, 
this  afternoon,  what  I  thought  we  ought  to  do.  He 
gave  no  evidence,  however,  that  he  was  going  to  take 
my  advice,  or  any  one  else's  for  that  matter." 

"  Of  course,  I'm  not  trying  to  pick  your  confidence. 
Mr.  Secretary !  "  Mrs.  Rotherick  spoke  quickly.  "  You 
know,  I've  lived  for  years  in  Germany.  I  say  to  you, 
beware  of  Germany  in  Mexico,  Mr.  Huntingdon." 

"  What  kind  of  people  did  you  know  in  Germany  ?  " 
asked  Enoch. 

"  Many  kinds !  But  my  most  intimate  friend  was  an 
American  woman  who  was  married  to  a  German  Gen 
eral,  high  in  the  confidence  of  the  Kaiser.  I  know  the 
Kaiserin  well.  I  know  that  certain  German  diplomats 
are  deeply  versed  in  Mexican  lore  —  its  geography,  its 
geology,  its  people.  I  know  that  Germany  must  have 
more  land  or  burst.  Mr.  Secretary,  remember  what  I 


TWENTY-TWO  YEARS  LATER          67 

«ay,  Germany  is  deeply  interested  in  Mexico  and  she  is 
the  cleverest  nation  in  the  world  to-day." 

"What  nation  is  that,  Mrs.  Rotherick?"  asked  the 
Ambassador. 

"  Germany !  "  replied  the  little  woman. 

"  Possibly  you  look  at  Germany  through  the  eyes  of  a. 
fiction  writer,"  suggested  the  Englishman. 

"  It's  impossible  to  fictionize  Germany,"  laughed  Mrs. 
Rotherick.  "  One  could  much  more  easily  write  a  rhap 
sody  on  — 

"  On  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,"  interrupted  the 
Ambassador. 

"  Or  on  the  Bank  of  England,"  laughed  Mrs.  Rother 
ick.  "  Very  well,  gentlemen !  I  hope  you  never  will 
have  cause  to  remember  my  warning!  " 

It  was  just  as  the  ladies  were  leaving  the  table  that 
Enoch  said  to  Mrs.  Rotherick :  "  Will  you  be  so  kind 
as  to  write  me  a  letter  telling  me  of  your  suspicions  of 
Germany  in  Mexico?  I  shall  treat  it  as  confidential." 

Mrs.  Rotherick  nodded,  and  he  did  not  see  her  again 
that  evening.  Just  before  Enoch  departed  for  his  engage 
ment  with  Senor  Cadiz,  the  Ambassador  buttonholed  him, 

"  Look  here,  Huntingdon,"  he  said,  "  that  little  Mrs. 
Rotherick  knows  a  thing  or  two.  She's  better  informed 
on  international  relations  than  many  chaps  in  the  diplo 
matic  service.  If  I  were  you  I'd  pump  her." 

"  Thanks,  Mr.  Johns-Eaton,"  replied  Enoch.  "  Look 
here,  just  how  much  of  a  row  are  you  fellows  going  to 
make  about  those  mines  in  the  Alaskan  border  country? 
Why  shouldn't  Canada  take  that  trouble  on  ?  " 

"  Just  how  much  trouble  are  you  going  to  make  about 
the  seal  misunderstanding?"  demanded  Johns-Eaton. 

"  Well,"  replied  Enoch,  with  a  wide  smile,  "  I  have  a 
new  gelding  I'd  like  to  try  out,  to-morrow  morning. 
If  you'll  join  me  at  seven-thirty  on  that  rack  of  bones 
you  call  a  bay  mare,  I'll  tell  you  all  I  know." 

"You  will,  like  thunder!"  laughed  Johns-Eaton. 
"  But  I'll  be  there  and  jolly  well  give  you  the  oppor 
tunity  ! " 


68  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

Sefior  Juan  Cadiz  was  prompt  and  so  was  Enoch. 
For  a  long  hour  the  two  sat  in  the  breathless  heat  of  the 
July  night  while  the  Mexican  answered  Enoch's  terse 
questions  with  a  flow  of  dramatic  speech,  accentuated 
by  wild  gestures.  Shortly  after  eleven-thirty  Jonas  ap 
peared  in  the  doorway  with  two  tinkling  glasses. 

"  You  are  sure  as  to  your  facts  about  this  bandit 
leader  ?  "  asked  Enoch  in  a  low  voice. 

"  Of  an  absolute  sureness.     If  I — " 

The  Secretary  interrupted.  "  Could  you  go  to  Mex~ 
ico  for  me,  in  entire  secrecy  ?  " 

"Yes!  Yes!  Yes!  If  you  could  but  see  him  and 
he  you!  If  he  could  but  know  an  American  of  your 
type,  your  fairness,  your  kindness,  your  justice!  We 
have  been  taught  to  despise  and  hate  Americans,  you 
must  know." 

"  Who  has  taught  you?  " 

"  Sometimes,  I  think  partly  by  the  Germans  who  have 
come  among  the  people.  But  why  should  Germany  do 
so?" 

"Why  indeed?"  returned  Enoch,  and  the  two  men 
stared  at  each  other,  deep  intelligence  in  the  gaze  of 
each.  Jonas  tinkled  the  glasses  again  and  Seiior  Cadiz 
jumped  to  his  feet. 

"  I  know,  Sefior  Jonas !  "  he  laughed.  "  That  is  the 
good  night  cap,  eh ! ' ' 

Jonas  grinned  acquiescence,  and  five  minutes  later  he 
turned  off  the  lights  in  the  library.  Enoch  climbed  the 
stairs,  somewhat  wearily.  His  room  was  stifling  de 
spite  the  wide-flung  windows  and  the  electric  fan.  He 
slowly  and  thoughtfully  got  himself  into  his  pajamas, 
lighted  a  cigarette,  and  walked  over  to  the  table  that 
stood  in  the  bay  window.  He  unlocked  the  table  drawer 
and  took  out  a  large  blank  book  of  loose  leafed  variety, 
opened  it,  and  seating  himself  he  picked  up  his  pen  and 
began  to  write. 

'     "July  17. —  Rather  an  easier  day  than  usual,  Lucy, 
which  was  fortunate,  for  the  heat  has  been  almost  un- 


TWENTY-TWO  YEARS  LATER          69 

bearable  and  at  the  end  of  the  office  day  came  that  which 
stirred  old  memories  almost  intolerably.  A  letter  from 
Frank  Allen !  You  remember  him,  Lucy  ?  I  told  you 
about  him,  when  I  first  began  my  diary.  Well,  he  has 
written  that  his  daughter,  Diana,  is  coming  to  Washing 
ton  to  ask  me  for  a  job  which  he  does  not  wish  me  to 
give  her.  I  cannot  see  her!  Only  you  know  the  pain 
that  such  a  meeting  could  give  me!  It  would  be  like 
going  to  Bright  Angel  again.  And  while  the  thought 
of  going  back  to  the  Grand  Canyon  has  intrigued  me 
for  twenty-two  years,  I  must  go  in  my  own  way  and  in 
my  own  time.  And  I  am  not  ready  yet.  I  had  for 
gotten,  by  the  way,  that  Frank  had  a  daughter.  There 
was,  now  that  I  think  of  it,  a  little  thing  of  five  or  six 
who  went  down  Bright  Angel  with  us.  I  have  only  the 
vaguest  recollection  of  what  she  looked  like. 

"  Minetta  Lane  and  the  Grand  Canyon!  What  a  hid 
eous,  what  a  grotesque  coupling  of  names !  I  have  never 
seen  the  one  of  them  since  I  was  fourteen  and  the  other 
but  once,  yet  these  two  have  absolutely  made  my  life. 
Don't  scold  me,  Lucy!  I  know  you  have  begged  me 
never  to  mention  Minetta  Lane  again.  But  to  you,  I 
must.  Do  you  know  what  I  thought  to-night  after  I 
left  the  British  Ambassador?  I  thought  that  I'd  like 
to  be  in  Luigi's  second  floor  again,  with  a  deck  of  cards 
and  the  old  gang.  The  old  gang!  They've  all  except 
Luigi  been  in  Sing-Sing  or  dead,  these  many  years.  Yet 
the  desire  was  so  strong  that  only  the  thought  of  you 
and  your  dear,  faithful  eyes  kept  me  from  charging  like 
a  wild  elephant  into  a  Pullman  office  and  getting  a  berth 
to  New  York." 

Enoch  dropped  his  pen  and  stared  long  at  the  only 
picture  in  his  room,  a  beautiful  Moran  painting  of  Bright 
Angel  trail.  Finally,  he  rose  and  turned  off  the  light. 
When  Jonas  listened  at  the  door  at  half  after  midnight, 
the  sound  of  Enoch's  steady,  regular  breathing  sent  that 
faithful  soul  complacently  to  bed. 


CHAPTER  IV 

DIANA    ALLEN 

"  If  only  someone  had  taught  me  ethics  as  Christ 
taught  them,  while  I  was  still  a  little  boy,  I  would  be  a 
finer  citizen,  now." 

—  Enoch's  Diary. 

fT  rained  the  next  day  and  the  Secretary  of  the  In 
terior  and  the  British  Ambassador  did  not  attempt 
the  proposed  ride.  Enoch  did  his  usual  half  hour's  work 
with  the  punching  bag  and  reached  his  office  punctual 
to  the  minute,  with  his  wonted  air  of  lack  of  haste  and 
general  physical  fitness.  Before  he  even  glanced  at  his 
morning's  mail,  he  dictated  a  letter  to  Frank  Allen. 

"  Dear  Frank :  Your  letter  roused  a  host  of  mem 
ories.  Some  day  I  shall  come  to  Bright  Angel  again 
and  you  and  I  will  camp  once  more  in  the  bottom  of  the 
Canyon.  Whatever  success  I  have  had  in  after  life  is 
due  to  you  and  John  Seaton.  I  wonder  if  you  know 
that  he  has  been  dead  for  twenty  years  and  that  his 
devoted  wife  survived  him  only  by  a  year? 

"  I  will  do  my  best  to  carry  out  your  request  in  re 
gard  to  your  daughter. 

"  Cordially  and  gratefully  yours, 

"  ENOCH  HUNTINGDON." 

After  he  had  finished  dictating  this,  the  Secretary 
stared  out  of  the  window  thoughtfully.  Then  he  said, 
"  Let  me  have  that  at  once,  Mr.  Abbott.  Who  is  wait 
ing  this  morning  ?  " 

"  Mr.  Reeves  of  Idaho.  I  made  an  appointment  yes 
terday  for  the  delegation  to  meet  you  at  nine-fifteen. 
Reeves  has  turned  up  alone.  He  says  the  committee 

70 


DIANA  ALLEN  71 

decided  it  would  get   further  if  you  saw  him  alone." 
"  Reeves  was  the  short,  stout  man  with  small  eyes  set 
close  together !  " 

"  Yes,  Mr.  Secretary." 

Enoch  grunted.  "  Any  one  else  there  you  want  to  tell 
me  about  before  the  procession  begins?  " 

"  Do  you  recall  the  man  Armstrong  who  was  here 
six  months  ago  with  ideas  on  the  functions  of  the  Bureau 
of  Education?  I  didn't  let  him  see  you,  but  I  sent  you 
a  memorandum  of  the  matter.  He  is  back  to-day  and 
I've  promised  him  ten  minutes.  I  think  he's  the  kind 
of  a  man  you  want  in  the  Bureau.  He  doesn't  want  a 
job,  by  the  way." 

"  I'll  see  him,"  said  Enoch.  "  If  you  can,  let  us  have 
fifteen  minutes." 

Abbott  sighed.  "  It's  impossible,  Mr.  Secretary.  I'll 
bring  Reeves  in  now." 

The  delegate  from  Idaho  shook  hands  effusively. 
"  The  rain  is  a  great  relief,  Mr.  Secretary." 

"  Yes,  it  is.  Washington  is  difficult  to  endure,  in  the 
summer,  isn't  it?  Well,  did  you  bring  in  the  proofs, 
Mr.  Reeves?  "  Enoch  seated  himself  and  his  caller  sank 
into  the  neighboring  chair. 

"  Mr.  Secretary,"  he  began,  with  a  smile,  "  has  it  ever 
occurred  to  you  that  we  have  been  stupid  in  the  number 
and  kind  of  Bureaus  we  have  accumulated  in  Depart 
ment  of  the  Interior?  " 

"  Yes,"  replied  Enoch.  "  I  suppose  you  are  thinking 
of  Patents,  Pensions,  Parks,  Geological  Survey,  Land, 
Indians  and  Education.  Do  you  know  that  beside  these 
we  have,  American  Antiquities,  the  Superintendent  of 
Capitol  Buildings,  the  Government  Hospital  for  the  In 
sane,  Freedman's  Hospital,  Howard  University,  and  the 
Columbia  Institution  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb?  " 

Reeves  laughed. 

"  No,  I  didn't.  But  it  only  goes  to  prove  what  I  say. 
It's  impossible  for  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  to  find 
time  to  understand  local  conditions.  Why  not  let  the 
states  manage  the  water  and  land  problems?  " 


72  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  It  would  be  illegal,"  replied  Enoch  briefly. 

"  Oh,  illegal !  You're  too  good  a  lawyer,  Mr.  Secre 
tary,  to  let  that  thought  hamper  your  acts!  " 

"  On  the  contrary,"  returned  Enoch,  succinctly,  "  I 
was  a  poor  lawyer.  In  some  ways  of  course  it  is  im 
possible  for  me  to  understand  local  conditions  in  Idaho. 
I  am  told,  though,  that  your  present  state  administration 
is  corrupt  as  Tammany  understands  corruption." 

Reeves  cleared  his  throat  and  would  have  spoken,  but 
Enoch  pushed  on. 

"  I  have  found,  as  the  head  of  this  complex  Depart 
ment  that  I  must  limit  myself  as  much  as  possible  to 
formulating  simple,  basic  policies  and  putting  these  poli 
cies  into  the  hands  of  men  who  will  carry  them  out.  In 
general,  my  most  important  work  is  to  administer  the 
public  domain.  That  is,  I  must  discover  how  best  the 
natural  resources  that  the  Federal  Government  still  con 
trols  can  be  put  into  public  service  and  public  service 
that  is  the  highest  and  best.  I  believe  that  the  water, 
the  land,  the  mines,  ought  to  be  given  to  the  use  of  the 
average  citizen.  I  do  not  think  that  a  corrupt  politician 
nor  a  favor-seeking  business  man  has  the  best  good  of 
the  plain  citizen  at  heart." 

"  That  is  very  interesting  from  the  dreamer's  point 
of  view,"  said  Reeves.  "  But  a  government  to  be  suc 
cessful  must  be  practical.  Who's  going  to  develop  the 
water  power  in  our  Idaho  streams  ?  " 

"  The  people  of  Idaho,  if  they  show  a  desire  to  make 
a  fair  interest  on  their  investment.  The  government  of 
the  United  States,  if  the  people  of  Idaho  fail  to  show 
the  proper  spirit." 

"And  who  is  to  be  the  judge  in  the  matter?"  de 
manded  Reeves. 

"  The  Secretary  of  the  Interior  will  be  the  judge.  And 
he  is  not  one  whit  interested  in  you  and  your  friends 
growing  wealthy.  He  is  interested  in  Bill  Jones  getting 
electricity  up  on  that  lonely  ranch  of  his.  Never  forget, 
Mr.  Reeves,  that  the  ultimate  foundations  of  this  na 
tion  rest  on  the  wise  distribution  of  its  natural  resources. 


DIANA  ALLEN  73 

The  average  citizen,  Mr.  Reeves,  must  have  reason  to 
view  the  future  with  hope.  If  he  does  not,  the  nation 
cannot  endure." 

"  And  why  do  you  consider  yourself  competent  to  deal 
with  these  problems?"  asked  the  caller,  with  a  half-con 
cealed  sneer. 

"  Any  man  with  education  and  horse  sense  can  han 
dle  them,  provided  that  his  philosophy  is  sound.  You 
have  come  to  Washington  with  the  idea,  Mr.  Reeves,  of 
getting  at  me,  of  tempting  me  with  some  sort  of  share 
in  the  wealth  you  see  in  your  streams.  Other  men  have 
come  to  the  Capitol  with  the  same  purpose.  I  have  my 
temptations,  Mr.  Reeves,  but  they  do  not  lie  in  the  desire 
to  graft.  I  think  there  are  jobs  more  interesting  in  life 
than  the  job  of  getting  rich.  All  the  grafting  in  the 
world  couldn't  touch  in  interest  the  job  of  directing 
America's  inland  destiny.  And  I  have  a  foolish  notion 
that  a  man  owes  his  country  public  service,  that  he  owes 
it  for  no  reward  beyond  a  living  and  for  no  other  rea 
son  than  that  he  is  a  man  with  a  brain." 

Reeves,  whose  face  had  grown  redder  and  redder,  half 
rose  from  his  chair. 

"  One  moment,"  said  Enoch.  "  Have  you  a  sound, 
fair,  policy  for  Idaho  water  power,  that  will  help  Bill 
Jones  in  the  same  proportion  that  it  helps  you?  " 

"  I  had  no  policy.  I  came  down  here  to  get  yours. 
I've  got  it  all  right,  and  I'm  going  back  and  tell  my  folks 
they'd  better  give  up  any  idea  of  water  power  during 
the  present  administration." 

"  I  wouldn't  tell  them  that,"  said  Enoch,  "  because  it 
wouldn't  be  true.  I  am  considering  a  most  interesting 
proposition  from  Idaho  farmers.  I  thought  perhaps  you 
had  something  better." 

Reeves  jumped  to  his  feet.  "  I'll  not  be  made  a  mon 
key  of  any  longer!  "  he  shouted.  "  But  I'll  get  you  for 
this  yet,"  and  he  rushed  from  the  office. 

Enoch  shrugged  his  shoulders  as  he  turned  to  the  in 
evitable  pile  of  letters.  Abbott  came  in  with  a  broad 
smile. 


74  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  Mr.  Secretary,  Miss  Diana  Allen  is  in  the  outer  of 
fice." 

Enoch  scowled.     "  Have  I  got  to  see  her  ?  " 

"  Well,  she's  mighty  easy  to  look  at,  Mr.  Secretary 
And  more  than  that,  she  announces  that  if  you're  en 
.gaged,  she'll  wait,  a  day,  a  week,  or  a  month." 

Enoch  groaned.  "  Show  her  in,  Abbott,  and  be  read} 
to  show  her  out  in  five  minutes." 

Abbott  showed  her  in.  She  entered  the  room  slowly, 
&  tall  woman  in  a  brown  silk  suit.  Everything  about 
her  it  seemed  to  Enoch  at  first  was  brown,  except  her 
eyes.  Even  her  skin  was  a  rich,  even  cream  tint.  But 
tier  eyes  were  hazel,  the  largest,  frankest,  most  intelli 
gent  eyes  Enoch  ever  had  seen  in  a  woman's  head.  And 
with  the  eyes  went  an  expression  of  extraordinary  sweet 
ness,  a  sweetness  to  which  every  feature  contributed,  the 
rather  short,  straight  nose,  the  full,  sensitive  lips,  with 
deep,  upturned  corners,  the  round  chin. 

True  beauty  in  a  woman  is  something  far  deeper,  far 
less  tangible  than  mere  perfection  of  feature.  One  grows 
unutterably  wreary  of  the  Venus  de  Milo  type  of  face, 
with  its  expressionless  perfection.  And  yet,  so  careless 
is  nature  that  not  twice  in  a  lifetime  does  one  see  a  wom 
an's  face  in  which  are  combined  fineness  of  intelligence 
.and  of  character,  and  beauty  of  feature.  But  Diana  was 
the  thrice  fortunate  possessor  of  this  combination.  She 
•was  so  lovely  that  one's  heart  ached  while  it  exulted  in 
looking  at  her.  For  it  seemed  a  tragic  thing  that  beauty 
so  deep  and  so  rare  should  embody  itself  in  a  form  so 
ephemeral  as  the  human  body. 

She  was  very  slender.  She  was  very  erect.  Her  small 
head  with  the  masses  of  light  brown  hair  shining  beneath 
the  simple  hat,  was  held  proudly.  Yet  there  was  a  match 
less  simplicity  and  lack  of  self -consciousness  about  Diana 
that  impressed  even  the  careless  observer:  if  there  was  a 
careless  observer  of  Diana! 

Enoch  stood  beside  his  desk  in  his  usual  dignified  calm. 
His  keen  eyes  swept  Diana  from  head  to  foot. 


DIANA  ALLEN  75 

"  You  are  kind  to  see  me  so  quickly,  Mr.  Secretary," 
said  Diana,  holding  out  her  hand. 

Enoch  smiled,  but  only  slightly.  It  seemed  to  Diana 
that  she  never  had  seen  so  young  a  man  with  so  stern  a 
face. 

"  You  must  have  arrived  on  the  same  train  with  your 
father's  note,  Miss  Allen.  Is  this  your  first  trip  east?  " 

"  Yes,  Mr.  Huntingdon,"  replied  Diana,  sinking  into 
the  chair  opposite  Enoch's.  "If  he  had  had  his  way, 
bless  his  heart,  I  wouldn't  have  had  even  a  first  trip. 
Isn't  it  strange  that  he  should  have  such  an  antipathy  to 
New  York  and  Washington !  " 

The  Secretary  looked  at  the  girl  thoughtfully.  "  As 
I  recall  your  father,  he  usually  had  a  good  reason  for 
whatever  he  felt  or  did.  You're  planning  to  stay  in 
Washington,  are  you,  Miss  Allen?" 

"If  I  can  get  work  in  the  Indian  Bureau!"  replied 
Diana. 

"  Why  the  Indian  Bureau?  "  asked  Enoch. 

"  I'm  a  photographer  of  Indians,"  answered  Diana 
simply.  "I've  been  engaged  for  years  in  trying  to  make 
a  lasting  pictorial  record  of  the  Indians  and  their  ways. 
I've  reached  the  limit  of  what  I  can  do  without  access 
to  records  and  books  and  I  can't  afford  a  year  of  study 
in  Washington  unless  I  work.  That's  why  I  want  work 
in  the  Indian  Bureau.  Killing  two  birds  with  one  stone, 
Mr.  Secretary." 

Enoch  did  not  shift  his  thoughtful  gaze  from  the  sweet 
face  opposite  his  for  a  long  moment  after  she  had  ceased 
to  speak.  Then  he  pressed  the  desk  button  and  Abbott 
appeared.  He  glanced  at  his  chief,  then  his  eyes  fastened 
themselves  on  Diana's  profile. 

"  Mr.  Abbott,  will  you  ask  the  Commissioner  of  In 
dian  Affairs  to  come  in?  I  believe  he  is  with  the  As 
sistant  Secretary  this  morning." 

Charley  nodded  and  disappeared. 

"  I  brought  a  little  portfolio  of  some  of  my  prints," 
Diana  spoke  hesitatingly.  "  I  left  them  in  the  other 


76  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

room.  Mr.  Abbott  thought  you  might  like  to  see  them, 
but  perhaps  —  you  seem  so  very  busy  and  I  think  there 
must  be  at  least  a  thousand  people  waiting  to  see 
you !  " 

"  There  always  are,"  said  Enoch,  without  a  smile  as  he 
pressed  another  button.  Jonas'  black  head  appeared. 
"  Bring  in  the  portfolio  Miss  Allen  left  in  the  other 
room,  please,  Jonas !  " 

"  Yes,  Mr.  Secretary,"  replied  Jonas,  withdrawing  his 
eyes  slowly  from  Diana's  eager  face. 

The  portfolio  and  the  Indian  Commissioner  arrived  to 
gether.  After  the  introduction  had  been  made,  Enoch 
said : 

"  Watkins,  do  you  know  anything  about  Indians  ?  " 

"  Very  little,  Mr.  Secretary,"  with  a  smile. 

"  Would  you  be  interested  in  looking  at  some  photo 
graphs  of  Indian  life?  " 

"  Made  by  this  young  lady?  "  asked  Watkins,  looking 
with  unconcealed  interest  at  Diana. 

"  Yes,"  said  Enoch. 

"And  shown  and  explained  by  her?"  asked  the  In 
dian  Commissioner,  a  twinkle  in  his  brown  eyes. 

Diana  laughed,  and  so  did  Abbott.  Enoch's  even  white 
teeth  flashed  for  a  moment. 

"  I  wish  I  had  time  to  join  you,"  he  said.  "  What  I 
want  to  suggest,  Mr.  Watkins,  is  that  you  see  if  Miss 
Allen  will  qualify  to  take  care  of  some  of  the  research 
work  you  received  an  appropriation  for  the  other  day. 
You  were  speaking  to  Abbott,  I  think,  of  the  difficulty 
of  finding  people  with  authentic  knowledge  of  the  In 
dians." 

The  Indian  Commissioner  nodded  and  tucked  Diana'? 
portfolio  under  his  arm.  "  Come  along,  Miss  Allen !  " 

Diana  rose.  "If  we  don't  leave  now,  I  have  an  ide^ 
we  will  be  asked  to  do  so,"  she  said,  the  corners  of  he* 
mouth  deepening  suddenly.  "  What  happens  if  one 
doesn't  leave  when  requested?" 

"  One  is  cast  in  a  dungeon,  deep  under  the  Capitol 
building,"  replied  Enoch,  holding  out  his  hand. 


DIANA  ALLEN  77 

Diana  laughed.  "  Thank  you  for  seeing  me  and  help 
ing  me,  Mr.  Huntingdon,"  she  said,  and  a  moment  later 
Jonas  closed  the  door  behind  her  and  the  Commissioner. 

"  How  come  that  young  lady  to  stay  so  long,  Mr. 
Abbott?"  Jonas  asked  Charley  in  a  low  voice,  as  he 
helped  the  young  man  bring  in  a  huge  pile  of  Reclama 
tion  reports. 

"  Did  you  get  a  good  look  at  her,  Jonas?  "  demanded 
Abbott  in  the  same  tone. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Jonas. 

"  Then  why  ask  foolish  questions  ?  " 

"  The  boss  don't  like  'em,  no  matter  what  they  look 
like." 

"  Every  man  has  his  breaking  point,  Jonas,"  smiled 
Charley. 

Enoch  turned  from  the  window  where  he  had  been 
standing  for  a  moment  in  unprecedented  idleness. 

"  I  think  you'd  better  let  me  have  ten  or  fifteen  min 
utes  on  that  report  to  the  President,  Abbott." 

"  I  will,  Mr.  Secretary.  By  the  way,  here  is  the  data 
you  asked  me  to  get  for  your  speech  at  the  Willard  to 
night." 

Enoch  nodded,  pocketed  the  notes  and  began  to  dic 
tate.  The  day  went  on  as  usual,  but  it  seemed  to  Jonas, 
when  he  helped  the  Secretary  to  dress  for  dinner  that 
night  that  he  was  unusually  weary. 

"How  come  you  to  be  so  tired  to-night,  boss?"  he 
asked  finally. 

"  I  don't  know,  old  man !  Jonas,  how  long  since  I've 
had  a  vacation?  " 

"  Seven  years,  boss." 

"  Sometimes  I  think  I  need  one,  Jonas." 

"Need  one!  Boss,  they  work  you  to  death!  They 
all  say  so.  Your  own  work's  enough  to  kill  three  men. 
And  now  they  do  say  the  President  is  calling  on  you  for 
all  the  hard  jobs  he  don't  dare  trust  nobody  else  to  do. 
How  come  he  don't  do  'em  hisself  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I'm  not  doing  more  than  my  share,  Jonas !  But 
you  and  I'll  have  to  have  a  vacation  one  of  these  days, 


78  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

sure.  Maybe  we'll  go  to  Japan.  I'll  be  home  early,  if 
I  can  make  it,  Jonas." 

Jonas  nodded,  and  looked  out  the  window.  "  Car 
riage's  here,  sir,"  and  Enoch  ran  quickly  down  the  stairs. 

It  was  only  eleven  o'clock  when  he  reached  home.  The 
rain  had  ceased  at  sundown  and  the  night  was  humid  and 
depressing.  When  Enoch  was  once  more  in  his  pajamas, 
he  unlocked  the  desk  drawer  and,  taking  out  the  journal, 
he  turned  to  the  first  page  and  began  to  read  with  ab 
sorbed  interest. 

"  May  12. —  This  is  my  eighteenth  birthday.  I've  had 
a  long  ride  on  the  top  of  the  bus,  thinking  about  Mr. 
Seaton.  He  was  a  fine  chap.  He  gave  me  a  long  lec 
ture  once  on  women.  He  said  a  guy  must  have  a  few 
clean,  straight  women  friends  to  keep  normal.  Of  course 
he  was  right,  but  I  couldn't  tell  him  or  anybody  else 
how  it  is  with  me.  He  said  that  if  you  can  share  your 
worries  with  your  friends  they're  finished.  And  he  was 
right  again.  But  they're  some  things  a  guy  can't  share. 
I  did  it  once,  back  there  in  the  Canyon,  and  I'll  always  be 
glad  I  did.  But  I  was  just  a  kid  then.  The  hunch  that 
pulled  me  up  straight  then  wouldn't  work  now.  They 
never  did  prove  she  was  not  my  mother.  They  never 
found  out  a  thing  about  me,  except  what  Luigi  and  the 
neighbors  had  to  tell.  She  was  my  mother,  all  right. 
And  I  don't  feel  as  if  I  ever  can  believe  in  any  of  them. 
I  don't  want  to.  All  I  want  of  women  is  for  them  to 
let  me  alone  and  I'll  let  them  alone.  But  a  few  weeks 
ago  I  had  a  fine  idea  —  to  invent  a  girl  of  my  own !  I 
got  the  idea  in  English  Literature  class,  from  a  poem  of 
Wordsworth's. 

"Three  years  she  grew  in  sun  and  shower; 
Then  nature  said,  A  lovelier  flower 
On  earth  was  never  sown ; 
This  child  I  to  myself  will  take, 
She  shall  be  mine  and  I  will  make 
A  lady  of  my  own." 

"  I've  invented  her  and  I'm  going  to  keep  a  journal 
to  her  and  I'll  tell  her  all  the  things  I'd  tell  my  mother, 


DIANA  ALLEN  79 

if  she'd  been  decent,  and  to  my  sweetheart,  if  I  could 
believe  in  them.  I  don't  know  just  how  old  she  is. 
Somewhere  in  her  twenties,  I  guess.  She's  tall  and  slim 
and  she  has  a  creamy  kind  of  skin.  Her  hair  is  light 
brown,  almost  gold.  It's  very  thick.  She  has  it  in 
braids  wound  all  round  her  head.  Her  eyes  are  hazel 
and  she  has  a  sweet  mouth  and  she  is  very  beautiful. 
And  she  is  good,  and  tender,  and  she  understands  every 
thing  about  me.  She  knows  just  how  bad  I've  been  and 
the  fight  I'm  putting  up  to  keep  straight.  And  every 
night  before  I  go  to  bed,  I'll  tell  her  what  my  day  has 
been.  I'll  begin  to-night  by  telling  her  about  myself. 

"  I  don't  know  where  I  was  born,  Lucy,  or  who  my 
father  was.  My  mother  was  the  mistress  of  an  Italian 
called  Luigi  Giuseppi.  She  died  a  rotten  death,  leaving 
me  at  six  to  Luigi.  He  treated  me  badly  but  he  needed 
me  in  his  gambling  business,  and  he  kept  me  by  telling 
me  how  bad  my  mother  was  and  threatening  to  tell  other 
people.  From  the  time  I  was  eight  till  I  was  fourteen, 
I  don't  suppose  a  day  passed  without  his  telling  me  of 
the  rot  I  had  inherited  from  my  mother.  I  began  gam 
bling  for  him  when  I  was  about  ten. 

"  When  I  was  fourteen  I  was  arrested  in  a  gambling 
raid  and  paroled  in  the  care  of  John  Seaton,  a  lawyer. 
He  took  me  to  the  Grand  Canyon.  He  and  Frank  Al 
len,  a  guide,  suggested  to  me  the  idea  that  Luigi's  mis 
tress  was  not  my  mother.  Such  an  idea  never  had  oc 
curred  to  me  before.  They  first  gave  it  to  me  in  the 
bottom  of  the  Canyon. 

"  I  can't  put  into  writing  what  that  suggestion,  coupled 
with  my  first  view  of  the  Canyon  meant  to  me.  But  it 
was  as  if  I  had  met  God  face  to  face  and  He  had  taken 
pity  on  a  dirty  little  street  mucker  and  He  had  lifted  me 
in  His  great  hands  and  had  told  me  to  try  to  be  good 
and  He  would  help  me.  I  never  had  believed  in  God 
before.  And  I  came  back  from  that  trip  resolved  to  put 
up  a  fight. 

*  Mr.  Seaton  began  the  search  for  my  folks  right  off, 
but  he  didn't  find  anything  before  he  died,  which  was 


8o  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

only  a  year  later.  But  I  made  him  a  solemn  promise  I'd 
go  through  college  and  study  law  and  I'm  going  to  do  it. 
He  was  not  a  rich  man  but  he  left  me  enough  money 
to  see  me  through  college.  In  one  more  year  I'll  finish 
the  High  School.  I  still  play  cards  once  in  a  while  in  a 
joint  on  Sixth  Avenue.  I  know  it's  wrong  and  I'm  try 
ing  hard  to  quit.  But  sometimes  I  just  can't  help  it, 
especially  when  I'm  worried. 

"  Luigi  will  be  in  the  pen  another  seven  years.  When 
he  comes  out  I  am  going  to  beat  him  up  till  he  tells  me 
about  my  mother  and  father.  Though  perhaps  he's  been 
telling  the  truth !  " 

"May  13. —  Lucy,  I  made  a  speech  in  third  year 
rhetoric  to-day  and  the  teacher  kept  me  after  class.  He 
said  he'd  been  watching  me  for  some  time  and  he  wanted 
to  tell  me  he  thought  I'd  make  a  great  orator,  some  day. 
He's  going  to  give  me  special  training  out  of  school 
hours,  for  nothing.  I'm  darned  lucky.  If  a  guy's  go 
ing  into  politics,  oratory's  the  biggest  help.  But  to  be 
famous  as  a  speaker  isn't  why  I'm  going  into  politics. 
I'm  going  to  clean  Minetta  Lane  up.  I'm  going  to  try 
to  fix  it  in  New  York  so's  a  fellow  couldn't  have  a 
mother  and  a  stepfather  like  mine.  You  know  what  I 
mean,  don't  you  ?  Darn  it,  a  kid  suffers  so !  You  know 
that  joint  on  Sixth  Avenue  where  I  go  and  play  cards 
once  in  a  while  ?  Well,  it  was  raided  to-day.  I  wonder 
what  Mr.  Seaton  would  have  said  if  he'd  been  alive 
and  I'd  been  there  and  got  pinched  again! 

"I'm  going  to  throw  no  bluffs  with  you,  Lucy.  Gam 
bling's  in  my  blood.  Luigi  used  to  say  I  came  by  my 
skill  straight.  And  I  get  the  same  kind  of  craving  for 
it  that  a  dope  fiend  does  for  dope.  I  don't  care  to  tell 
anybody  about  it,  or  they'd  send  me  to  an  insane  asylum. 
When  I  first  came  from  the  Canyon  and  moved  out  of 
Minetta  Lane,  I  swore  I'd  never  put  foot  in  it  again 
until  I  went  in  to  clean  it  up.  And  I  haven't  and  I  won't. 
But  for  the  first  year  my  nails  were  bitten  to  the  quick. 
If  my  mother  —  but  what's  the  use  of  that  I  Mr.  Seaton 


DIANA  ALLEN  81 

said  every  man  has  to  have  a  woman  to  whom  he  opens 
up  the  deep  within  him.  I  have  you  and  you  know 
you've  promised  to  help  me." 

"  June  i. —  Lucy,  I've  got  a  job  tutoring  for  the  sum 
mer.  The  rhetoric  teacher  got  it  for  me.  It's  the  son 
of  an  Episcopal  vicar.  He  is  a  boy  of  twelve  and  they 
want  him  taught  English  and  declamation.  Lord!  If 
they  knew  all  about  me !  But  the  kid  is  safe  in  my  hands. 
I  know  how  kids  of  twelve  feel.  At  least,  the  Minetta 
Lane  variety.  So  I'll  be  at  the  sea  shore  all  summer. 
Going  some,  for  Minetta  Lane,  eh? 

"  Lucy,  I  made  fifty  dollars  last  night  at  poker  from 
a  Senior  in  the  Student's  Club.  This  morning  I  made 
him  take  it  back." 

Enoch  closed  the  book  and  leaned  back  in  his  chair  as 
Jonas  appeared  at  the  door  with  a  pitcher  of  ice  water. 

"  How  come  you  don't  try  to  get  a  little  rest,  boss  ?  " 
asked  Jonas,  glancing  disapprovingly  at  the  black  book. 

"  I  am  resting,  old  man !  Don't  bother  your  good  old 
head  about  me,  but  tumble  off  to  sleep  yourself!  " 

"  I  don't  never  sleep  before  you  do.  I  ain't  for  thir 
teen  years,  and  I  don't  calculate  to  begin  now."  Jonas 
turned  the  bed  covers  back  and  marched  out  of  the  room. 

Enoch  smiled  and,  opening  the  book  again,  he  turned 
the  pages  slowly  till  another  entry  struck  his  eye. 

"February  6. —  If  I  could  only  see  you,  touch  you, 
cling  to  your  tender  hand  to-night,  Lucy!  You  know 
that  I  was  chosen  to  represent  Columbia  in  the  dedica 
tion  of  the  Lincoln  statue.  It  was  to  have  taken  place 
next  Wednesday.  But  the  British  Ambassador,  who  was 
to  be  the  chief  Mogul  there,  was  called  home  to  England 
for  some  reason  or  other  and  they  shoved  the  dedication 
forward  to  to-day,  so  as  to  catch  him  before  he  sailed. 
And  some  of  the  speakers  weren't  prepared,  so  it  came 
about  that  I,  an  unknown  Columbia  senior,  had  to  give 
the  chief  speech  of  the  day.  Not  that  anybody,  let  alone 


82  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

myself,  realized  that  it  was  going  to  be  the  chief  speech. 
It  just  turned  out  that  way.  Lucy  dear,  they  went  crazy- 
over  it!  And  all  the  papers  to-night  gave  it  in  full.  It 
was  only  a  thousand  words.  Why  in  the  name  of  all  the 
fiends  in  Hades  do  you  suppose  nothing  relieves  me  in 
moments  of  great  mental  stress  but  gambling?  You 
notice,  don't  you,  that  I  talk  to  you  of  Minetta  Lane  only 
when  something  tremendous,  either  good  or  bad,  has  hap 
pened  to  me?  Other  men  with  the  same  weakness,  you 
say,  turn  to  drink.  I  suppose  so,  poor  devils.  Oh,  Lucy, 
I  wish  I  were  in  the  Grand  Canyon  to-night !  I  wish  you 
and  I  were  together  in  Frank's  camp  at  the  foot  of  Bright 
Angel.  It  is  sunset  and  the  Canyon  is  full  of  unspeak 
able  wonder.  Even  the  thought  of  it  rests  me  and  makes 
me  strong.  .  .  .  Those  stars  mean  that  I've  torn  into  a 
million  pieces  a  hundred-dollar  bill  I  won  in  Sixth  Avenue 
to-night." 

Enoch  turned  many  pages  and  then  paused. 

"  March  28. —  There  is  a  chance,  Lucy,  that  I  may  be 
appointed  secretary  to  the  reform  Mayor  of  New  York. 
I  would  be  very  glad  to  give  up  the  practice  of  law.  Be 
yond  my  gift  for  pleading  and  a  retentive  memory,  I 
have  no  real  talents  for  a  successful  legal  career.  You 
look  at  me  with  those  thoughtful,  tender  gray  eyes  of 
yours.  Ah,  Lucy,  you  are  so  much  wiser  than  I,  wise 
with  the  brooding,  mystical  wisdom  of  the  Canyon  in 
the  starlight.  You  have  intimated  to  me  several  times 
that  law  was  not  my  end.  You  are  right,  as  usual.  Law 
has  its  face  forever  turned  backward.  It  is  searching 
always  for  precedent  rather  than  justice.  A  man  who 
is  going  into  politics  should  be  ever  facing  the  future. 
He  should  use  the  past  only  in  helping  him  to  avoid 
mistakes  in  going  forward.  And,  perhaps  I  am  wrong. 
I  am  willing  to  admit  that  my  unfortunate  boyhood  may 
have  made  me  over  inclined  to  brood,  but  it  seems  to 
me  very  difficult  to  stick  to  the  law,  make  money,  and  be 
morally  honest,  in  the  best  sense.  If  I  clear  Bill  Jones, 


DIANA  ALLEN  83 

who  is,  as  I  know,  ethically  as  guilty  as  Satan,  though 
legally  within  his  rights,  can  I  face  you  as  a  man  who  is 
steel  true  and  blade  straight?  I  hope  I  get  that  appoint 
ment!  I  was  tired  to-night,  Lucy,  but  this  little  talk 
with  you  has  rested  me,  as  usual." 

"  March  29. —  I  have  the  appointment,  Lucy.  This 
is  the  beginning  of  my  political  career  —  the  beginning 
of  the  end  of  Minetta  Lane.  You  have  a  heavy  task 
before  you,  dear,  to  keep  me,  eyes  to  the  goal,  running 
the  race  like  a  thoroughbred.  Some  day,  Lucy,  we'll  go 
back  to  the  Canyon,  chins  up,  work  done,  gentlemen  un 
afraid!" 

Enoch  turned  more  pages,  covering  a  year  or  so  of 
the  diary. 

"  March  30. —  I've  been  in  the  City  Hall  two  years  to 
day.  Lucy,  the  only  chance  on  earth  I'll  ever  have  to 
clean  out  the  rookeries  of  New  York  would  be  to  be  a 
Tammany  Police  Commissioner.  And  Tammany  would 
certainly  send  its  best  gunman  after  a  Police  Commis 
sioner  who  didn't  dote  on  rookeries.  Lucy,  can't  city 
governments  be  clean?  Is  human  nature  normally  and 
habitually  corrupt  when  it  comes  to  governing  a  city? 
The  Mayor  and  all  his  appointees  are  simply  wading 
through  the  vast  quagmire  of  the  common  citizen's  in 
difference,  fought  every  step  by  the  vile  creatures  who 
batten  on  the  administration  of  the  city's  affairs.  Do 
you  suppose  that  if  the  schools  laid  tremendous  stress 
on  clean  citizenship  and  began  in  the  kindergarten  to 
teach  children  how  to  govern  in  the  most  practical  way, 
it  would  help?  I  believe  it  would.  I'm  going  to  tuck 
that  thought  in  the  back  of  my  head  and  some  day  I  may 
have  opportunity  to  use  it.  I  wish  I  could  do  something 
for  the  poor  boys  of  New  York.  I  wish  the  Grand  Can 
yon  were  over  in  Jersey !  " 

"  Sept.  4. —  I  am  unfit  to  speak  to  you,  but  oh,  I  need 


84  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

you  as  I  never  did  before.  Don't  turn  those  kind,  clear- 
seeing  eyes  away  from  me,  Lucy!  Lucy!  It  happened 
this  way.  I  wanted,  if  possible  to  make  our  Police  Com 
missioner  see  Minetta  Lane  through  my  eyes.  And  I 
took  him  down  there,  three  days  ago.  It's  unchanged, 
in  all  these  years,  except  for  the  worse.  And  Luigi  was 
dragging  a  sack  of  rags  into  his  basement.  He  was 
gray  and  bent  but  it  was  Luigi.  And  he  recognized  me 
and  yelled  'Bastard !  '  after  me.  Lucy,  I  went  back  and 
beat  him,  till  the  Commissioner  hauled  me  off.  And 
the  dirty,  spluttering  little  devil  roared  my  story  to  all 
that  greedy,  listening  crowd !  I  slipped  away,  Lucy,  and 
I  hid  myself  in  a  place  I  know  in  Chinatown.  No !  No ! 
I  don't  drink  and  I  don't  hit  the  pipe.  I  gamble.  My 
luck  is  unbelievable.  And  when  the  fit  is  on  me,  I'd 
gamble  my  very  soul  away.  Jonas  found  me.  Jonas  is 
a  colored  porter  in  the  City  Hall  who  has  rather  adopted 
me.  And  Jonas  said,  '  Boss,  how  come  you  to  do  a 
stunt  like  this?  The  Police  Commissioner  say  to  the 
Mayor  and  I  hear  'em,  an  Italian  black  hander  take  you 
for  somebody  else  and  he  have  him  run  in.  I  tell  'em 
you  gone  down  to  Atlantic  City.  You  come  home  with 
me,  Boss.'  He  put  his  kind  black  hand  on  my  shoulder, 
and  Lucy,  his  eyes  were  full  of  tears.  I  left  my  win 
nings  with  the  Chinaman,  and  came  back  here  with 
Jonas.  Lucy!  Oh,  if  I  could  really  hear  your  voice!  " 

"  Sept.  5. —  I  had  a  long  talk  with  the  Police  Commis 
sioner  to-day.  I  can  trust  him  the  way  I  used  to  trust 
Mr.  Seaton,  Lucy.  I  told  him  the  truth  about  Luigi  and 
me  and  he  promised  to  do  what  he  could  to  ferret  out  the 
truth  about  my  people.  If  I  could  only  know  that  my 
father  was  half-way  decent,  no  matter  what  my  mother 
was,  it  would  make  an  enormous  difference  to  me." 

Enoch  turned  another  year  of  pages. 

"Oct.  12. —  Lucy,  the  Police  Commissioner  says  he 
has  to  believe  that  Luigi 's  mistress  was  my  mother.  He 


DIANA  ALLEN  85 

advises  me  to  close  that  part  of  my  life  for  good  and  all 
and  give  myself  to  politics.  Easy  advice!  But  I  am 
going  to  play  the  game  straight  in  spite  of  Minetta  Lane." 

Enoch  paused  long  over  this  entry,  then  turned  on 
again. 

"  Nov.  6. —  Well,  my  dear,  shake  hands  with  Con 
gressman  Huntingdon.  Yes,  ma'am!  It's  true!  Aren't 
you  proud  of  me?  And,  Lucy,  listen!  Don't  have  any 
illusions  on  how  I  got  there.  It  wasn't  brains.  It  wasn't 
that  the  people  wanted  me  to  put  over  any  particular 
idea  or  ideal  for  them.  I  simply  so  intrigued  them  with 
flights  of  oratory  that  they  decided  I  was  a  natural  born 
congressman !  Well,  bless  'em  for  doing  it,  anyhow,  and 
I'll  play  the  game  for  them.  If  I  ever  had  had  a  father 
I'd  like  to  talk  politics  with  him.  He  must  have  had 
some  decency  in  him,  or  I'd  have  been  all  bad,  like  my 
mother.  Or  maybe  I'm  a  throw-back  from  two  degen 
erate  parents.  Well,  we'll  end  the  breed  with  me. 

"  Lucy,  it  would  have  been  romantic  if  I  could  have 
cleaned  out  Minetta  Lane  and  other  New  York  rooker 
ies.  But  it  would  have  been  about  like  satisfying  one's 
self  with  washing  a  boy's  face  when  his  body  was  a 
mass  of  running  sores.  We've  got  to  cure  the  sores  and 
in  order  to  do  that  we've  got  to  find  the  cause.  No  one 
thing  is  going  to  prove  a  panacea.  I  wonder  if  it's 
possible  to  teach  children  so  thoroughly  that  each  one 
owes  a  certain  amount  of  altruistic,  clean  service  to  his 
local  and  his  federal  government  that  an  honest,  respon 
sible  citizenry  would  result?" 

Enoch  drank  of  the  ice  water  and  continued  to  turn  the 
close-written  pages. 

"  April  12. —  I  don't  boast  much  about  my  career  as  a 
Congressman.  I've  been  straight  and  I've  gabbed  a  good 
deal.  That  about  sums  up  my  history.  If  I  go  back  as 
Police  Commissioner,  I  shall  feel  much  more  useful. 


86  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  Lucy,  love  is  a  very  important  thing  in  a  man's  life. 
Sometimes,  I  think  that  the  less  he  has  of  it,  the  more 
important  it  becomes.  I  had  thought  that  as  I  grew 
older  my  career  would  more  and  more  fill  my  life,  that 
youth  and  passion  were  synonymous  and  that  with  ma 
turity  would  come  calm  and  surcease.  This  is  not  the 
truth.  The  older  I  grow  the  more  difficult  it  becomes 
for  me  to  feel  that  work  can  fully  satisfy  a  man.  Nor 
will  merely  caring  for  a  woman  be  sufficient.  A  man 
must  care  for  a  woman  whom  he  knows  to  be  fine,  who 
can  meet  his  mental  needs,  or  love  becomes  merely  phys 
ical  and  never  satisfies  him.  Well,  I  must  not  whimper. 
I  have  talent  and  tremendous  opportunities,  many  friends 
and  splendid  health.  And  I  have  you.  And  each  year 
you  become  a  more  intrinsic  part  of  my  life.  How  pa 
tient  you  have  been  with  me  all  these  years !  I've  been 
wondering,  lately,  if  you  haven't  rather  a  marked 
sense  of  humor.  It  seems  to  me  that  nothing  else  could 
make  you  so  patient,  so  tender  and  so  keen!  I'm  sure 
I'm  an  object  of  mirth  to  Jonas  at  times,  so  I  must 
be  to  you.  All  right!  Laugh  away!  I  laugh  at  my 
self! 

"  Lucy,  it  has  been  over  eighteen  months  since  I  touched 
a  card." 

Jonas  put  his  head  in  at  the  door,  but  Enoch  turned 
on  to  the  middle  of  the  book. 

"  Dec.  i. —  They  won't  let  me  keep  it  up  long,  Lucy, 
but  Lord,  Lord,  hasn't  the  going  been  good,  my  dear, 
while  it  lasted !  I've  twisted  Tammany's  tail  till  its  head's 
dropped  off !  I've  '  got  long  poles  and  poked  out  the 
nests  and  blocked  up  the  holes.  I  shall  consult  with  the 
carpenters  and  builders  and  leave  in  our  town  not  even 
a  trace  of  the  rats.'  I've  routed  out  hereditary  grafters 
and  looters.  I've  run  down  wealthy  gunmen  and  I've 
turned  men's  fame  to  a  notoriety  that  carried  a  stench. 
But  they'll  get  me,  Lucy!  They'll  either  kill  me  or  send 
me  back  to  Congress." 


DIANA  ALLEN  87 

Enoch  turned  more  pages. 

"  Nov.  i. —  Congress  again,  eh,  Lucy?  And  you  care 
for  Washington  as  little  as  I!  Dear,  this  has  been  a 
hard  day.  I've  been  saying  good-by  to  the  force!  By 
the  eternal,  but  they  are  men!  And  now  all  that  won 
derful  machine,  built  up,  really,  by  the  men  themselves, 
must  fall  apart !  What  a  waste  of  human  energy !  Yet, 
I've  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  man  who  devotes  him 
self  to  public  service  loses  much  of  his  usefulness  if  he 
allows  himself  to  grow  pessimistic  about  human  nature. 
If  there  were  not  more  good  than  bad  in  the  world,  we'd 
still  be  monkeys !  I  have  ceased  to  search  for  some  great 
single  ideal  for  which  I  can  fight.  Whatever  abilities  I 
have  in  me  I  shall  devote  to  helping  to  administer  govern 
ment  cleanly.  After  all,  we  gave  New  York  a  great 
object  lesson  in  the  possibilities  of  cleaning  out  Tam 
many's  pest  house.  Perhaps  somebody's  great-grand 
child,  inspired  by  the  history  of  my  attempt  will  try 
again  and  be  successful  for  a  longer  period.  And  oh, 
woman !  It  was  a  gorgeous  fight ! 

"  Jonas  is  delighted  that  we  are  returning  to  Washing 
ton.  He  says  we  are  to  keep  house.  I  am  a  great  re 
sponsibility  to  Jonas.  He  is  very  firm  with  me,  but  I 
think  he's  as  fond  of  me  as  I  am  of  him. 

"  Lucy,  how.  am  I  to  go  on,  year  after  year  like  this, 
with  only  my  dream  of  you?  How  am  I  to  do  my 
work  like  a  man,  with  only  half  a  man's  life  to  live? 
What  can  all  the  admiring  plaudits  mean  to  me  when  1 
know  that  you  are  only  a  dream,  only  a  dream?  " 

Enoch  sat  forward  in  his  chair,  laid  the  book  on  the 
desk,  opened  to  the  last  entry  and  seized  his  pen. 

44  So  your  name  is  not  Lucy,  but  Diana !  Oh,  my 
dearest,  and  you  did  not  recognize  me  at  all,  while  my 
very  heart  was  paralyzed  with  emotion !  You  must  have 
been  a  very  lovely  little  girl  that  the  memory  of  you 
should  have  been  so  impressed  on  my  subconsciousness. 


88  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

Oh,  how  beautiful  you  are!  How  beautiful!  And  to 
think  that  I  must  never  let  you  know  what  you  are  to 
me.  Never!  Never!  The  strain  stops  with  me.1' 

He  dropped  his  pen  abruptly  and,  turning  off  the  light, 
flung  himself  down  on  his  bed.  Jonas,  listening  long  at 
the  door,  waited  for  the  full,  even  breathing  that  would 
mark  the  end  of  his  day's  work.  But  it  did  not  come, 
and  dawn  struggling  through  the  hall  window  found 
Jonas  sitting  on  the  floor  beside  the  half -opened  door, 
his  black  head  drooping  on  his  breast,  but  his  eyes  open. 

Enoch  reached  his  office  on  the  stroke  of  nine,  as  usual. 
Hi's  face  was  a  little  haggard  and  set  but  he  came  in 
briskly  and  spoke  cheerfully  to  Charley  Abbott. 

"  A  little  hotter  than  ever,  eh,  Abbott  ?  I  think  you're 
looking  dragged,  my  boy.  When  are  you  going  to  take 
your  vacation  ?  " 

"  In  the  fall,  after  you  have  had  yours,  Mr.  Secre 
tary."  The  two  men  grinned  at  each  other. 

"  Did  the  Indian  Commissioner  find  work  for  Miss 
Allen?  "  asked  Enoch  abruptly. 

"  Oh,  yes !  And  she  was  as  surprised  and  pleased  as 
a  child."' 

"  How  do  you  know  that?  "  demanded  the  Secretary. 

Charley  looked  a  little  confused.  "  I  took  her  out 
to  lunch,  Mr.  Huntingdon.  Jove,  she's  the  most  beauti 
ful  woman  I  ever  saw !  " 

"  Well,  let's  finish  off  that  report  to  the  President,  Mr. 
Abbott.  That  must  go  to  him  to-morrow,  regardless  of 
whom  or  what  I  have  to  neglect  to-day." 

Abbott  opened  his  note  book.  But  the  dictation  hardly 
had  begun  when  the  telephone  rang  and  Enoch  was  sum 
moned  to  the  White  House.  It  was  noon  when  he  left 
the  President.  Washington  lay  as  if  scorching  under  a 
burning  glass.  The  dusty  leaves  drooped  on  the  trees. 
Even  the  carefully  cherished  White  House  lawn  seemed 
to  have  forgotten  the  recent  rains.  Enoch  dismissed  his 
carriage  and  crossed  slowly  to  Pennsylvania  Avenue. 
It  had  occurred  to  him  suddenly  that  it  had  been  many 


DIANA  ALLEN  89 

weeks  since  he  had  taken  the  noon  hour  outside  of  his 
office.  He  had  found  that  luncheon  engagements  broke 
seriously  into  his  day's  work.  He  strolled  slowly  along 
the  avenue,  watching  the  sweltering  noon  crowds  unsee- 
ingly,  entirely  unconscious  of  the  fact  that  many  people 
turned  to  look  at  him.  He  paused  before  a  Johnstown 
Lunch  sign,  wondering  whimsically  what  Jonas  would 
say  if  it  were  reported  that  the  boss  had  eaten  here. 
And  as  he  paused,  the  incessantly  swinging  door  emitted 
Miss  Diana  Allen. 

Enoch's  pause  became  a  full  stop.  "  How  do  you  do. 
Miss  Allen  ?  "  he  said. 

Diana  flushed  a  little.  "  How  do  you  do,  Mr.  Secre 
tary !  Were  you  looking  for  a  cheap  lunch?  " 

"  Jonas  provides  the  cheapest  lunch  known  to  Wash- 
ington,"  said  Enoch.  "  I  was  looking  for  some  one  to 
walk  up  Pennsylvania  Avenue  with  me." 

"  You  seem  to  be  well  provided  with  company." 
Diana  glanced  at  the  knot  of  people  who  were  eagerly 
watching  the  encounter. 

Enoch  did  not  follow  her  glance.  His  eyes  were  fast 
ened  on  Diana's  lovely  curving  lips.  "  And  I  want  to 
hear  about  the  work  in  the  Indian  Bureau." 

Diana  fell  into  step  with  him.  "  I  think  the  work  is 
going  to  be  interesting.  Mr.  Watkins  is  more  than  kind 
about  my  pictures.  I'm  to  send  home  for  the  best  of 
my  collection  and  he  is  going  to  give  an  exhibition  of 
them." 

"  Is  he  giving  you  a  decent  salary?  "  asked  Enoch. 

"  Ample  for  all  my  needs,"  replied  Diana. 

"  Do  your  needs  stop  with  the  Johnstown  Lunch?  "  de 
manded  Enoch. 

"  Well,"  replied  Diana,  "  if  you'd  lived  on  the  trail 
as  much  as  I  have,  you'd  not  complain  of  the  Johnstown 
Lunch.  I've  made  worse  coffee  myself,  and  I've  seen 
more  flies,  too." 

Enoch  chuckled.  "  What  does  Watkins  call  your 
job?" 

"  I'm  a  special  investigator  for  the  Indian  Bureau." 


90  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

Enoch  chuckled  again.  "  Right !  And  that  title  Wat- 
kins  counts  as  worth  at  least  five  dollars  a  week.  The 
remainder  is  the  equivalent  of  a  stenographer's  salary. 
I  know  him !  " 

"  He  is  quite  all  right,"  said  Diana  quickly.  "  It  must 
be  extremely  difficult  to  manage  a  budget.  No  matter 
how  large  they  are,  they're  always  too  small.  To  ad 
minister  the  affairs  of  a  dying  race  with  inadequate 
funds  — ' 

Diana  hesitated. 

"  And  in  entire  ignorance  of  the  race  itself,"  added 
Enoch  quietly.  "  I  know !  But  I  had  to  choose  between 
a  rattling  good  administrator  and  a  rattling  good  ethnol 
ogist." 

Diana  nodded  slowly.  '  Your  choice  was  inevitable, 
I  suppose.  And  Mr.  Watkins  seems  very  efficient." 

"  Well,  and  where  does  your  princely  salary  permit 
you  to  live  ?  "  Enoch  concluded. 

"  On  New  Jersey  Avenue,  in  a  brown  stone  front  \\ith 
pansies  in  front  and  cats  in  the  rear,  an  old  Confederate 
soldier  in  the  basement  and  rats  in  the  attic.  As  for 
odors  and  furniture,  any  kind  whatever,  provided  one 
is  not  too  particular." 

"  My  word !  how  you  are  going  to  miss  the  Canyon !  " 
exclaimed  Enoch. 

Diana  nodded.  "  Yes,  but  after  all  one's  avocation  is 
the  most  important  thing  in  life." 

"Is  it?"  asked  Enoch.  "I've  tried  to  make  myself 
believe  that,  but  so  far  I've  failed." 

"  You  mean,"  Diana  spoke  quickly,  "  that  I  ought  to 
have  stayed  with  my  father  ?  " 

"No,  I  don't!"  returned  Enoch,  quite  as  quickly. 
"  At  least,  I  mean  that  I  know  nothing  whatever  about 
that.  I  would  say  as  a  general  principle,  though,  that 
parents  who  have  adequate  means,  are  selfish  to  hang  on 
the  necks  of  their  grown  children." 

"  Father  misses  mother  so,"  murmured  Diana,  with 
apparent  irrelevance. 

Enoch  said  nothing.     They  were   opposite  the   Post 


DIANA  ALLEN  91 

Office  now  and  Diana  paused.  "  I  must  go  to  the  Post 
Office!  Good-by,  Mr.  Secretary." 

"  Good-by,  Miss  Allen,"  said  Enoch,  taking  off  his  hat 
and  holding  out  his  hand.  "  Let  me  know  if  there  is 
anything  further  I  can  do  for  you !  " 

"  Oh,  I'm  quite  all  right  and  shall  not  bother  you  again, 
thank  you,"  replied  Diana  cheerfully. 

Enoch  was  very  warm  when  he  reached  his  office. 
Jonas  and  the  bottle  of  milk  were  awaiting  him  "  How 
come  you  to  be  so  hot,  boss?  "  demanded  Jonas. 

"  I  walked  back.  It  was  very  foolish,"  replied  Enoch 
meekly. 

"  I  don't  dare  to  let  you  out  o'  my  sight,"  said  Jonas 
severely. 

"  I  think  I  do  need  watching,"  sighed  Enoch,  begin 
ning  his  belated  luncheon. 

That  night  the  Secretary  wrote  to  Diana's  father. 

"  My  dear  Frank :  Diana  came  and  I  found  a  job  for 
her  in  the  Indian  office.  I  feel  like  a  dog  to  have  broken 
my  word  with  you,  but  her  work  is  very  interesting  and 
very  important,  and  I  feel  that  she  ought  to  have  her 
few  months  of  study  in  Washington.  She  is  very  beau 
tiful,  Frank,  and  very  fine.  You  must  try  to  forgive 
me.  Faithfully  yours, 

"  EK«CH  HUNTINGDON." 


CHAPTER  V 

A    PHOTOGRAPHER   OF   INDIANS 

"  When  I  tutored  boys  I  wondered  most  at  their  self 
ishness  and  their  generosity.  They  had  so  much  of 
both !  And  I  believe  that  as  men  they  lose  none  of 
either." 

—  Enoch's  Diary. 

ENOCH  knew  what  it  was  to  fight  himself.  Perhaps 
he  knew  more  about  such  lonely,  unlovely  battles 
than  any  man  of  his  acquaintance.  The  average  man  is 
usually  too  vain  and  too  spiritually  lazy  to  fight  his  inner 
devils  to  the  death.  But  Enoch  had  fought  so  terribly 
that  it  seemed  to  him  that  he  could  surely  win  this  new 
struggle.  Nothing  should  induce  him  to  break  his  vow 
of  celibacy.  He  cursed  himself  for  a  weak  fool  in  not 
obeying  Frank  Allen's  request.  Then  he  gathered  to 
gether  all  his  resources,  to  protect  Diana  from  himself. 

A  week  or  so  went  by,  during  which  Enoch  made  no 
attempt  to  see  Diana  or  to  hear  from  her.  The  office 
routine  ground  on  and  on.  The  Mexican  cloud  thick 
ened.  Alaska  developed  a  threatening  attitude  over  her 
coal  fields.  The  farmers  of  Idaho  suddenly  withdrew 
their  proposals  regarding  water  power.  Calmly  and  with 
clear  vision,  Enoch  met  each  day's  problems.  But  the 
lines  about  his  mouth  deepened. 

One  day,  early  in  August,  Charley  Abbott  came  to  the 
Secretary's  desk.  "  Miss  Diana  Allen  would  like  to  see 
you  for  a  few  moments,  Mr.  Secretary." 

Enoch  did  not  look  up.  "  Ask  her  to  excuse  me,  Mr. 
Abbott,  I  am  very  busy." 

Charley  hesitated  for  an  instant,  then  went  quickly 
out. 

"  Luncheon  is  served,  boss,"  said  Jonas,  shortly  after. 


A  PHOTOGRAPHER  OF  INDIANS       93 

"Is  Abbott  gone?  "  asked  Enoch. 

"Yes,  sir!  He's  took  that  Miss  Allen  to  lunch,  I 
guess.  He's  sure  gone  on  that  young  lady.  How  come 
everybody  thinks  she's  so  beautiful,  boss?" 

"  Because  she  is  beautiful,  Jonas,  very,  very  beauti 
ful." 

The  faithful  steward  looked  keenly  at  the  Secretary. 
He  had  not  missed  the  appearance  of  a  line  in  the  face 
that  was  the  whole  world  to  him. 

"  Boss,"  he  said,  "  don't  you  ever  think  you  ought  to 
marry?  " 

Enoch  looked  up  into  Jonas'  face.  "  A  man  with  my 
particular  history  had  best  leave  women  alone,  Jonas." 

Jonas'  mouth  twitched.  "  They  ain't  the  woman  ever 
born  fit  to  darn  your  socks,  boss." 

Enoch  smiled  and  finished  his  lunch  in  silence.  He 
would  have  given  a  month  of  his  life  to  know  what 
errand  had  brought  Diana  to  his  office.  But  Charley 
Abbott,  returning  at  two  o'clock  with  the  complacent 
look  of  a  man  who  has  lunched  with  a  beautiful  girl, 
showed  no  intention  of  mentioning  the  girl's  name.  And 
Enoch  went  on  with  his  conferences.  But  it  was  many 
days  before  he  opened  the  black  book  again. 

Diana's  exhibition  must  have  been  of  unusual  quality, 
for  jaded  and  cynical  Washington  learned  of  its  existence, 
spoke  of  it  and  went  to  see  it.  It  seemed  to  Enoch  that 
^very  one  he  met  took  special  delight  in  mentioning  it  to 
him. 

Even  Jonas,  one  night,  as  he  brought  in  the  bed-time 
pitcher  of  ice  water,  said,  "  Boss,  I  saw  Miss  Allen's 
pictures  this  evening.  They  sure  are  queersome.  That 
must  be  hotter'n  Washington  out  there.  How  come  you 
ain't  been,  Boss?  " 

"How  do  you  know  I  haven't  seen  them,  Jonas?" 
asked  Enoch  quickly. 

"  Don't  I  know  every  place  you  go,  boss  ?  Didn't  you 
tell  me  that  was  my  job,  years  ago?  How  come  you 
think  I'd  forget?"  Jonas  was  eyeing  the  Secretary 
warily.  "  Mr.  Abbott,  he's  got  a  bad  case  on  that  Miss 


94  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

Allen.  He's  give  me  at  least  a  dollar's  worth  of  ten 
cent  cigars  lately  so's  I'll  stand  and  smoke  and  let  him 
talk  to  me  about  her." 

Enoch  grunted. 

"  He  says  she  — "  Jonas  rambled  on. 

Enoch  looked  up  quickly.  "  I  don't  want  to  hear  it, 
Jonas."  Jonas  drew  himself  up  stiffly.  The  Secretary 
laid  his  own  broad  palm  over  the  black  hand  that  still 
held  the  handle  of  the  water  pitcher.  "  Spare  me  that, 
old  friend,"  he  said. 

Jonas  put  his  free  hand  on  Enoch's  shoulder.  "  Are 
you  sure  you're  right,  boss?"  he  asked  huskily. 

"  I  know  I'm  right,  Jonas." 

"  Well,  I  don't  see  it  your  way,  boss,  but  what's  right 
for  you  is  right  for  me.  Good  night,  sir,"  and  shaking 
his  head,  Jonas  slowly  left  the  room. 

But  Enoch  was  destined  to  see  the  pictures  after  all. 
One  day,  after  Cabinet  meeting,  the  President,  in  his 
friendly  way,  clapped  Enoch  on  the  shoulder. 

"  First  time  in  a  great  many  years,  Huntingdon,  that 
the  Indian  Bureau  has  distinguished  itself  for  anything 
but  trouble!  I  saw  Miss  Allen's  pictures  last  night. 
My  word!  What  a  sense  of  heat  and  peace  and,  yes,  by 
jove,  passion !  those  photographs  tell.  The  Bureau  ought 
to  own  those  pictures,  old  man.  Especially  the  huge  en 
largement  of  Bright  Angel  trail  and  the  Navaho  hunters. 
Eh?" 

"  Well,  to  tell  the  truth,  Mr.  President,"  said  Enoch 
slowly,  "  I  haven't  seen  the  pictures." 

"  Not  seen  them !  Why  some  one  said  you  discovered 
Miss  Allen !  " 

"  In  a  way  I  did,  but  I  don't  deserve  any  credit  for 
that." 

"Not  if  he  saw  her  first!"  exclaimed  the  Secretary 
of  State,  who  had  loitered  behind  the  others. 

The  President  nodded.  "  She  is  very  lovely.  I  saw 
her  at  a  distance,  and  I  want  to  meet  her.  Now,  Mr. 
Huntingdon,  it's  very  painful  for  me  to  have  to  chide 
you  for  dereliction  in  office.  But  a  man  who  will  neg- 


A  PHOTOGRAPHER  OF  INDIANS       95 

lect   those  pictures    for  the  —  well,   the   coal   fields   of 
Alaska,  should  be  dealt  with  severely." 

"  Hear!  Hear!  "  cried  the  Secretary  of  State. 
The  President  laughed.  "  And  so  I  must  ask  you, 
Mr.  Huntingdon,  to  bring  Miss  Allen  to  see  me,  after 
you  have  gone  carefully  over  the  pictures.  Jokes  aside, 
you  know  my  keen  interest  in  Indian  ethnology  ? " 
Enoch  nodded,  and  the  President  went  on.  "If  this 
girl  has  the  brains  and  breadth  of  vision  I'm  sure  she 
must  have  to  produce  a  series  of  photographs  like  those, 
I  want  to  know  her  and  do  what  I  can  to  push  her  work. 
So  neglect  Mexico  and  Alaska  for  a  little  while,  to 
morrow,  will  you,  Huntingdon?  " 

Enoch's  laughter  was  a  little  grim,  but  with  a  quick 
leap  of  his  heart,  he  answered.  "  A  man  can  but  obey 
the  Commander  in  Chief,  I  suppose!  " 

As  the  door  swung  to  behind  him,  the  President  said 
to  the  Secretary  of  State,  "  Huntingdon  is  working  too 
hard,  I'm  afraid.  Does  he  ever  play?" 

"  Horseback  riding  and  golf.  But  he's  a  woman  hater. 
At  least,  if  not  a  hater,  an  avoider!  " 

"  I  like  him,"  said  the  President.  "  I  want  him  to  play." 
That  evening  Enoch  went  to  see  the  pictures.  There 
were  perhaps  a  hundred  of  them,  telling  the  story  of  the 
religion  of  the  Navahos.  Only  one  whom  the  Indians 
loved  and  trusted  could  have  procured  such  intimate, 
such  dramatic  photographs.  They  were  as  unlike  the 
usual  posed  portraits  of  Indian  life  as  is  a  stage  shower 
unlike  an  actual  thunder  storm.  There  was  indeed  a 
subtle  passion  and  poignancy  about  the  pictures  that  it 
seemed  to  Enoch  as  well  as  to  the  President,  only  a  fine 
mind  could  have  found  and  captured.  He  had  made  the 
rounds  of  the  little  room  twice,  threading  his  way  ab 
stractedly  through  the  crowd,  before  he  came  upon  Diana. 
She  was  in  white,  standing  before  one  of  the  pictures, 
answering  questions  that  were  being  put  to  her  by  a 
couple  of  reporters.  She  bowed  to  Enoch  and  he  bowed 
in  return,  then  stood  so  obviously  waiting  for  the  re 
porters  to  finish  that  they  actually  withdrew. 


96  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

Enoch  came  up  and  held  out  his  hand.  "  These  are 
very  fine,  Miss  Allen." 

"  I  thought  you  were  not  coming  to  see  them/'  said 
Diana.  "  It  makes  me  very  happy  to  have  you  here!  " 

"  Does  it?  "  asked  Enoch  quickly.     "  Why?  " 

"  Because  — "  here  Diana  hesitated  and  looked  from 
Enoch's  stern  lips  to  his  blue  eyes. 

"  Yes,  go  on,  do !  "  urged  Enoch.  "  For  heaven's 
sake,  treat  me  as  if  I  were  a  human  being  and  not — " 

It  was  his  turn  to  hesitate. 

"  Not  the  Washington  Monument?  "  suggested  Diana. 

Enoch  laughed.     "  Am  I  as  bad  as  that?  "  he  asked. 

Diana  nodded.  "  Very  nearly !  Nevertheless,  for 
some  reason  I  don't  understand,  I've  had  the  feeling  that 
you  would  like  the  pictures  and  get  what  I  was  driving 
at,  better  than  any  one." 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Enoch  slowly.  "  I  do  like  them. 
So  much  so  that  I  wish  that  I  might  own  them,  instead 
of  the  Indian  Bureau.  The  President,  to-day,  told  m'e 
the  Indian  Bureau  ought  to  buy  them.  And  also,  he 
asked  me  to  bring  you  to  see  him  to-morrow." 

A  sudden  flush  made  roses  in  Diana's  beautifully  mod 
eled  cheeks. 

"  Did  he !  Mr.  Huntingdon,  how  am  I  ever  going  to 
thank  you?  " 

"  I  deserve  no  thanks  at  all.  It  was  entirely  the  Presi 
dent's  own  idea.  In  fact,  I  had  not  intended  to  come 
to  your  exhibition." 

"No?  Why  not?  Do  you  dislike  me  so  much  as 
that?  And,  after  all,  Mr.  Secretary,  if  the  pictures  are 
interesting,  the  fact  that  a  woman  took  them  should  not 
prejudice  you  against  them." 

"  Abbott's  been  giving  me  a  bad  reputation,  I  see," 
said  Enoch.  "  I'll  have  to  get  Jonas  to  tell  you  what  a 
really  gentle  and  affectionate  and  er  —  mild,  person  I 
am.  I've  a  notion  to  reduce  Abbott's  salary." 

"  Charley  Abbott  is  a  dear,  and  he's  a  devated  admirer 
of  yours,"  Diana  exclaimed. 

"  And  of  yours,"  rejoined  Enoch. 


A  PHOTOGRAPHER  OF  INDIANS       97 

"  He's  very  discerning,"  said  Diana,  her  eyes  twinkling 
and  the  corners  of  her  mouth  deepening.  "  But  you  shall 
not  evade  me  this  way,  Mr.  Huntingdon.  Why  didn't 
you  want  to  see  my  pictures  ?  " 

"  I  didn't  say  that  I  didn't  want  to  see  them.  Women 
are  always  inaccurate,  or  at  least,  so  I  have  heard." 

"  I  would  say  that  Mr.  Abbott  had  a  great  deal  more 
data  on  the  general  subject  of  women  than  you,  Mr. 
Secretary.  You  really  ought  to  get  him  to  check  you 
up !  Please,  why  didn't  you  intend  to  come  to  my  exhi 
bition?" 

"  I  have  been  swamped  with  extra  work  of  late,"  an 
swered  Enoch. 

"  Yes  ?  "     Diana's  eyebrows  rose  and  her  intelligent 

great  eyes  were  fastened  on  Enoch's  with  an  expression 

so  discerning  and  so  sympathetic,  that  he  bit  his  lip  and 

turned  from  her  to  the  Navaho,  who  prayed  in  the  burn- 

^^  desert  before  him.     The  reporters,   who  had  been 

T^vering  in  the  offing,  closed  in  on  Diana  immediately. 

When  she  was  free  once  more,  Enoch  turned  back  and 

held  out  his  hand. 

"  Good  night,  Miss  Allen.  If  you  don't  mind  coming 
over  to  my  office  at  twelve  to-morrow,  I  can  take  you 
to  the  White  House  then." 

"  I  shall  not  mind  !  —  too  much !  Good  night,  Mr. 
Secretary,"  replied  Diana,  with  the  deepening  of  the  cor 
ners  of  her  mouth  that  Enoch  now  recalled  had  belonged 
to  the  little  girl  Diana. 

Enoch  made  an  entry  in  the  black  book  that  night. 
"  I  wonder,  Diana,  how  much  Frank  has  told  you  of 
me  and  my  unhappy  history.  I  wonder  how  you  would 
feel  if  a  man  whose  mother  was  a  harlot  who  died  of 
an  unspeakable  disease  were  to  ask  you  to  marry  him. 
Oh,  my  dear,  don't  be  troubled!  I  shall  never,  never, 
ask  you.  Your  pictures  moved  me  more  than  I  dared 
try  to  express  to  you.  It  was  as  if  you  had  carried  me 
in  a  breath  to  the  Canyon  and  once  more  I  beheld  the 
wonder,  the  kindliness,  the  calm,  the  inevitableness  of 
God's  ways.  I'm  going  to  try,  Diana,  to  make  a  friend 


98  THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

of  you.  I  believe  that  I  have  the  strength.  What  I  am 
very  sure  of  is  that  I  have  not  the  strength  to  know  that 
you  are  in  Washington  and  never  see  you." 

The  clock  struck  twelve  the  next  day,  when  Abbott 
came  to  the  Secretary's  desk.  Enoch  was  deep  in  a  con 
ference  with  the  Attorney  General. 

"  Miss  Allen  is  here,"  he  said  softly. 

"  Give  me  five  minutes !  "  exclaimed  the  Attorney  Gen 
eral. 

"  I'm  sorry."  Enoch  rose  from  his  desk.  "  I'm  very 
sorry,  old  fellow,  but  this  is  an  appointment  with  the 
President.  Can  you  come  about  three,  if  that  suits 
Abbott's  schedule  ?  " 

"  Not  till  to-morrow,  I'm  afraid,"  said  the  Attorney 
General. 

Enoch  nodded.  "  It's  just  as  well.  I  think  I'll  have 
some  private  advices  from  Mexico  by  then  that  may 
somewhat  change  our  angle  of  attack.  All  right,  Jonas ! 
I'm  coming.  Ask  Miss  Allen  to  meet  me  at  the  carriage." 

But  he  overtook  Diana  in  the  elevator.  She  wore  the 
brown  silk  suit,  and  Enoch  thought  she  looked  a  little 
flushed  and  a  little  more  lovely  than  usual. 

"  I'm  a  marked  person,  Mr.  Secretary,"  she  said,  with 
a  twinkle  in  her  eyes.  "  You'd  scarcely  believe  how  many 
total  strangers  have  asked  me  to  introduce  them  to  you, 
since  you  walked  up  Pennsylvania  Avenue  with  me." 

"  I'm  glad  you  have  an  appreciative  mind,"  returned 
Enoch.  "  I  hope  that  you  are  circumspect  also,  and  won't 
impose  on  me  because  of  my  condescension." 

"  I'll  try  not  to,"  Diana  answered  meekly,  as  Enoch 
followed  her  into  the  carriage. 

They  smiled  at  each  other,  and  Enoch  went  on,  "  Of 
course,  I've  been  feeling  rather  proud  of  the  opportunity 
to  display  myself  before  Washington  with  you.  I've 
been  called  indifferent  to  women.  I'm  hoping  now  that 
the  gossips  will  say,  '  Aha !  Huntingdon's  a  deep  one ! 
No  wonder  he's  been  indifferent  to  the  average  woman ! ' 

Diana  eyed  him  calmly.  "  That  doesn't  sound  at  all 
like  Washington  Monument,"  she  murmured. 


A  PHOTOGRAPHER  OF  INDIANS       99 

"  More  like  Charley  Abbott,  I  suppose !  "  retorted 
Enoch. 

"  No,"  answered  Diana  thoughtfully,  "  hardly  like  Mr. 
Abbott's  method.  I  would  say  that  he  belonged  to  a 
different  school  from  you." 

"  Yes  ?     What  school  does  Abbott  represent  ?  " 

"  Well,  he  has  a  dash,  an  ease,  that  shows  long  and 
varied  experience.  Charley  Abbott  is  a  finished  ladies' 
man.  It  almost  discourages  me  when  I  contemplate  the 
serried  ranks  of  women  that  must  have  contributed  to  his 
perfect  finesse." 

"  Discourages  you?  "  queried  Enoch. 

Diana  did  not  answer.  "  But,"  she  went  on,  "  while 
Charley  is  a  graduate  of  the  school  of  experience  and 
you  — " 

She  paused. 

"  Yes,  and  I  — ,"  pressed  Enoch. 

"  I  won't  impose  on  your  condescension  by  telling 
you,"  said  Diana. 

"  Pshaw !  "  muttered  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

Suddenly  Diana  laughed.  Enoch,  after  a  moment, 
laughed  with  her,  and  they  entered  the  White  House 
grounds  still  chuckling. 

The  President  did  not  keep  them  waiting.  "  I  may 
not  be  able  to  order  my  wife  and  daughter  about,"  he 
said,  as  he  shook  hands  with  Enoch,  "  but  I  certainly 
have  my  official  family  well  under  control.  Did  you  see 
the  pictures,  Huntingdon?" 

"  I  saw  and  was  conquered,  Mr.  President,"  replied 
Enoch. 

"  What  would  you  say,  Miss  Allen,  if  I  tell  you  that 
I  had  to  force  this  fellow  into  going  to  see  your  won 
derful  pictures?"  the  President  asked. 

"  It  wouldn't  surprise  me,"  replied  Diana,  in  an  enig 
matical  voice  that  made  both  men  smile. 

"  I  see  you  understand  our  Secretary  of  the  Interior," 
the  President  said  complacently.  "  Sit  down,  children, 
and  Miss  Allen,  talk  to  me.  How  long  did  it  take  you 
to  make  that  collection  of  photographs?" 


ioo         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  I  began  that  particular  collection  ten  years  ago. 
Those  pictures  have  been  sifted  out  of  nearly  two  thou 
sand  prints." 

"  Did  you  take  any  other  pictures  during  that  period?  " 
asked  the  President. 

"Oh,  yes!  I  was,  I  think,  fourteen  or  fifteen  when 
I  first  determined  to  give  my  life  to  Indian  photography. 
I  didn't  at  that  time  think  of  making  a  living  out  of  it. 
I  had  a  dream  of  making  a  photographic  history  of  the 
spiritual  life  of  some  of  the  South-western  tribes.  It 
didn't  occur  to  me  that  anything  but  a  museum  or  pos 
sibly  a  library  would  care  for  such  a  collection.  But  to 
my  surprise  there  was  a  ready  market  for  really  good 
prints  of  Indians  and  Indian  subjects.  So  while  I  have 
kept  always  at  work  on  my  ultimate  idea,  I've  made  and 
sold  many,  many  pictures  of  Indians  on  all  sorts  of 
the'mes." 

Enoch  looked  from  Diana's  half  eager,  half  abashed 
eyes,  to  the  President's  keen,  hawk-like  face,  then  back  to 
Diana. 

"  What  gave  you  the  idea  to  begin  with?  "  asked  the 
President. 

Diana  looked  thoughtfully  out  of  the  window.  Both 
men  watched  her  with  interest.  Enoch's  rough  hewn 
face,  with  its  unalterably  somber  expression,  was  set  in 
an  almost  painful  concentration.  The  President's  eyes 
were  cool,  yet  eager. 

"  It  is  hard  for  me  to  put  into  words  just  what  first 
led  me  into  the  work,"  said  Diana  slowly.  "  I  was  born 
in  a  log  house  on  the  rim  of  the  Grand  Canyon.  My 
father  was  a  canyon  guide." 

"  Yes,  Frank  Allen,  an  old  Yale  man.     I  know  him." 

"Do  you  remember  him?"  cried  Diana.  "He'll  be 
so  delighted!  He  took  you  down  Bright  Angel  years 
ago." 

"Of  course  I  remember  him.  Give  him  my  regards 
when  you  write  to  him.  And  go  on  with  your  story." 

"  My  mother  was  a  California  woman,  a  very  good 
geologist.  My  nurse  was  a  Navajo  woman.  Somehow, 


A  PHOTOGRAPHER  OF  INDIANS     101 

by  the  time  I  was  into  my  teens,  I  was  conscious  of  the 
great  loss  to  the  world  in  the  disappearance  of  the  spirit 
ual  side  of  Indian  life.  I  knew  the  Canyon  well  by  then 
and  I  knew  the  Indians  well  and  the  beauty  of  their  cere 
monies  was  even  then  more  or  less  merged  in  my  mind 
with  the  beauty  of  the  Canyon.  Their  mysticism  was 
the  Canyon's  mysticism.  I  tried  to  write  it  and  I 
couldn't,  and  I  tried  to  paint  it,  and  I  couldn't.  And 
then  one  day  my  mother  said  to  me,  '  Diana,  nobody  can 
interpret  Indian  or  Canyon  philosophy.  Take  your  cam 
era  and  let  the  naked  truth  tell  the  story! '  " 

Diana  paused.  "  I'm  not  clever  at  talking.  I'm  afraid 
I've  given  you  no  real  idea  of  my  purpose." 

"  One  gets  your  purpose  very  clearly,  when  one  recalls 
your  Death  and  the  Navajo,  for  instance,  eh,  Hunting 
don?" 

"Yes,  Mr.  President!" 

"  I  suppose  the  two  leading  Indian  ethnologists  are 
Arkwind  and  Sherman,  of  the  Smithsonian,  are  they  not, 
Miss  Allen  ?  "  asked  the  President. 

"  Oh,  without  doubt !  And  they  have  been  very  kind 
to  me." 

The  President  nodded.  "  They  both  tell  me  that  your 
work  is  of  extraordinary  value.  They  tell  me  that  you 
have  actually  photographed  ceremonies  so  secret,  so  mys 
tical,  that  they  themselves  had  only  heard  vaguely  of 
their  existence.  And  not  only,  they  say,  have  you  pho 
tographed  them,  but  you  have  produced  works  of  art, 
pictures  '  pregnant  with  celestial  fire.'  ' 

Diana's  cheeks  were  a  deep  crimson.  "  Oh,  I  deserve 
so  little  credit,  after  all !  "  she  exclaimed.  "  I  was  born 
in  the  midst  of  these  things.  And  the  Indians  love  me 
for  my  old  nurse's  sake!  But  human  nature  is  weak 
and  what  you  tell  me  makes  me  very  happy,  sir." 

The  men  glanced  at  each  other  and  smiled. 

"  Suppose,  Miss  Allen,"  said  the  President,  "  that  you 
had  the  means  to  outfit  an  expedition.  How  long  would 
it  take  you  to  complete  the  entire  collection  you  have  in 
mind?" 


102          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

Diana's  eyes  widened.  "  Why,  I  could  do  nothing  at 
all  with  an  expedition !  I  simply  wander  about  canyon 
and  desert,  sometimes  with  old  nurse  Na-che,  sometimes 
alone.  The  Indians  have  always  known  me.  I'm  as 
much  a  part  of  their  lives  as  their  own  daughters.  I  — 
I  believe  much  of  their  inner  hidden  religion  and  so  — 
oh,  Mr.  President,  an  expedition  would  be  absurd,  for 
me!" 

"  Well,  then,  without  an  expedition  ?  "  insisted  the 
President. 

Diana  sighed.  "  You  see,  I'm  not  able  to  give  all  my 
time  to  the  work.  Mother  died  five  years  ago,  and  fa 
ther  is  lonely  and,  while  he  thinks  his  little  income  is 
enough  for  both  of  us,  it's  enough  only  if  I  stay  at  home 
and  play  about  the  desert  with  my  camera,  cheaply  as  I 
do,  and  keep  the  house.  It  does  not  permit  me  to  leave 
home.  It  seems  to  me,  that  working  as  I  have  in  the 
past,  it  would  take  me  at  least  ten  years  more  to  com 
plete  my  work." 

"  The  patience  of  the  artist !  It  always  astounds  me !  " 
exclaimed  the  President.  "  Miss  Allen,  I  am  not  a  rich 
man,  but  I  have  some  wealthy  friends.  I  have  one  friend 
in  particular,  a  self-made  man,  of  enormous  wealth.  The 
interest  he  and  I  have  in  common  is  American  history  in 
all  its  aspects.  It  seems  to  me  that  you  are  doing  a  truly 
important  work.  I  want  you  to  let  this  friend  of  mine 
fund  you  so  that  you  may  give  all  your  time  to  your 
photography." 

"  Oh,  Mr.  President,  I  don't  need  funds !  "  protested 
Diana.  "  There  is  no  hurry.  This  is  my  life  work. 
Let  me  take  a  life-time  for  it,  if  necessary." 

"  That  is  all  very  well,  Miss  Allen,  but  what  if  you 
die,  before  you  have  finished?  No  one  could  complete 
your  work  because  no  one  has  your  peculiar  combination 
of  information  and  artistic  ability.  People  like  you,  my 
dear,  belong  not  to  themselves,  but  to  the  country." 

Enoch  spoke  suddenly.  "  Why  not  arrange  the  mat 
ter  with  the  Indian  Bureau,  Mr.  President  ?  " 

"  Why  not  arrange  it  with  the  Circumlocution  Of- 


A  PHOTOGRAPHER  OF  INDIANS      103 

fice!  "  exclaimed  the  President.  "  I'm  surprised  at  you, 
Huntingdon!  You  know  what  the  budget  and  red  tape 
of  Washington  does  to  a  temperament  like  Miss  Allen's. 
On  the  other  hand,  here  is  my  friend,  who  would  give 
her  absolutely  free  rein  and  take  an  intense  pride  in  pro 
viding  the  money." 

Diana  laughed.  "  You  speak,  sir,  as  if  I  needed  some 
vast  fund.  It  costs  a  dollar  a  day  in  the  desert  to  keep 
a  horse  and  another  dollar  to  keep  a  man.  Camera 
plates  and  clothing  —  why  a  hundred  dollars  a  month 
would  be  luxury !  And  I  don't  need  help,  truly  I  don't ! 
The  mere  fact  of  your  interest  is  help  enough  for  me." 

"  A  hundred  dollars  a  month  for  your  expenses,"  said 
the  President,  making  a  memorandum  in  his  notebook, 
"  and  what  is  your  time  worth?  " 

"  My  time  ?  You  mean  what  would  I  charge  some 
body  for  doing  this  work?  Why,  Mr.  President,  this  is 
not  a  job!  It's  an  avocation!  I  wouldn't  take  money 
for  it.  It's  a  labor  of  love." 

The  chief  executive  suddenly  rose  and  Diana,  rising 
too,  was  surprised  at  the  look  that  suddenly  burned  in 
the  hawk-like  eyes. 

"  You  are  an  unusual  woman,  Miss  Allen !  Your 
angle  on  life  is  one  seldom  found  in  Washington."  He 
took  a  restless  turn  up  and  down  the  room,  glanced  at 
Enoch,  who  stood  beside  the  desk,  utterly  absorbed  in 
contemplation  of  Diana's  protesting  eyes,  then  said, 
*'  This  friend  of  mine  is  a  disappointed  man.  He  had 
believed  that  in  amassing  a  great  fortune  he  would  find 
satisfaction.  He  has  found  that  money  of  itself  is  dust 
and  ashes  and  it  is  too  late  for  him  to  take  up  a  new 
work.  Miss  Allen,  I  too  am  a  disappointed  man.  I  had 
believed  that  the  President  of  a  great  nation  was  a  full 
man,  a  contented  man.  I  find  myself  an  automaton, 
whirled  about  by  the  selfish  desires  of  a  politically  stupid 
and  indifferent  constituency.  One  of  the  few  consola 
tions  I  find  in  my  high  office  is  that  once  in  a  while  I 
come  upon  some  one  who  is  contributing  something  per 
manent  to  this  nation's  real  advancement,  and  I  am  able 


104         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

to  help  that  person.     Miss  Allen,  will  you  not  share  your 
great  good  fortune  with  my  friend  and  me?  " 

"  Gladly !  "  exclaimed  Diana  quickly.  Then  she  added, 
with  a  little  laugh,  "  I  think  I  understand  now,  why  you 
are  President  of  the  United  States !  " 

Enoch  and  the  President  joined  in  the  laugh,  and  Diana 
was  still  smiling  when  they  descended  the  steps  to  the 
waiting  carriage.  But  the  smile  faded  with  a  sudden 
thought. 

"  The  President  mustn't  think  I  will  take  more  than 
expense  money !  "  she  exclaimed. 

Enoch  laughed  again  as  he  replied,  "  I  don't  think  that 
need  bother  you,  Miss  Allen.  I  imagine  a  yearly  sum 
will  be  placed  at  your  disposal.  You  will  use  what  you 
wish." 

Diana  shook  her  head  uneasily.  "  I  don't  more  than 
half  like  the  idea.  But  the  President  made  it  very  diffi 
cult  to  refuse." 

Enoch  nodded.  The  carriage  stopped  before  the  Wil- 
lard  Hotel.  "  Miss  Allen,  will  you  lunch  with  me?"  he 
asked. 

Diana  hesitated.  "  I'll  be  late  getting  back  to  the  of 
fice,"  she  said. 

"  I'll  ask  Watkins  not  to  dock  you,"  said  Enoch  so 
berly. 

"  Docking  my  salary,"  touching  Enoch's  proffered  hand 
lightly  as  she  sprang  to  the  curb,  "  would  be  almost  like 
taking  something  from  nothing.  I've  never  lunched  in 
the  Willard,  Mr.  Secretary." 

"The  Johnstown  lunch  still  holds  sway,  I  suppose!" 
said  Enoch,  following  Diana  down  the  stairs  to  Peacock 
Row. 

They  were  a  rather  remarkable  pair  together.  At  least 
the  occupants  of  the  Row  evidently  felt  so,  for  there  was 
a  breathless  craning  of  necks  and  a  hush  in  conversations 
as  they  passed,  Diana,  with  her  heart-searching  beauty, 
Enoch  with  his  great  height  and  his  splendid,  rugged 
head.  The  head  waiter  did  not  actually  embrace  Enoch 
in  welcoming  him,  but  he  managed  to  convey  to  the  din- 


A  PHOTOGRAPHER  OF  INDIANS     105 

ing-room  that  here  was  a  personal  and  private  god  of 
his  own  on  whom  the  public  had  the  privilege  of  gazing 
only  through  his  generosity.  Finally  he  had  them  seated 
to  his  satisfaction  in  the  quietest  and  most  conspicuous 
corner  of  the  room. 

"  Now,  my  dear  Mr.  Secretary,  what  may  we  give 
you?  "  he  asked,  rubbing  his  hands  together. 

Enoch  glanced  askance  at  Diana,  who  shook  her  head. 
"  This  is  entirely  out  of  my  experience,  Mr.  Secretary," 
she  said. 

"  Gustav,"  said  Enoch,  "  it's  not  yet  one  o'clock.  We 
must  leave  here  at  five  minutes  before  two.  Something 
very  simple,  Gustav."  He  checked  several  items  on  the 
card  and  gave  it  to  the  head  waiter  with  a  smile. 

Gustav  smiled  too.  "  Yes,  Mr.  Secretary !  "  he  ex 
claimed,  and  disappeared. 

"  And  that's  settled,"  said  Enoch,  "  and  we  can  forget 
it.  Miss  Allen,  when  shall  you  go  back  to  the  Canyon?  " 

"  Why,"  answered  Diana,  looking  a  little  startled,  "  not 
till  I've  finished  the  work  for  Mr.  Watkins,  and  that  will 
take  six  months,  at  least." 

"  I  think  the  President's  idea  will  be  that  you  must 

J 

get  to  your  own  work,  at  once.  Some  one  else  can  carry 
on  Watkins'  researches." 

"  I  ought  to  do  some  studying  in  the  Congressional 
library,''  protested  Diana.  "  Don't  you  think  Washing 
ton  can  endure  me  a  few  months  longer,  Mr.  Secretary  ?  " 

"  Endure  you!  "  Enoch's  voice  broke  a  little,  and  he 
gave  Diana  a  glance  in  which  he  could  not  quite  conceal 
the  anguish. 

A  sudden  silence  fell  between  the  two  that  was  broken 
by  the  waiter's  appearance  with  the  first  course.  Then 
Diana  said,  casually : 

"  My  father  is  going  to  be  very  happy  when  I  write 
him  about  this.  Do  you  remember  him  at  all  clearly, 
Mr.  Secretary?  " 

"  Yes,"  replied  Enoch.  Then  with  a  quick,  direct  look, 
he  asked,  "  Did  your  father  ever  give  you  the  details 
of  his  experience  with  me  in  the  Canyon?  " 


io6          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

Diana's  voice  was  low  but  very  steady  as  she  replied, 
"  Yes,  Mr.  Secretary.  He  told  me  long  ago,  when  you 
made  your  famous  Boyhood  on  the  Rack  speech  in  Con 
gress.  It  was  the  first  word  he  had  heard  of  you  in  all 
the  years  and  he  was  deeply  moved." 

"  I'm  glad  he  told  you,"  said  Enoch.  "  I'm  glad,  be 
cause  I'd  like  to  ask  you  to  be  my  friend,  and  I  would 
want  the  sort  of  friend  you  would  make  to  know  the 
worst  as  well  as  the  best  about  me." 

"  If  that  is  the  worst  of  you  — "  Diana  began  quickly, 
then  paused.  "  As  father  told  me,  it  was  a  story  of  a 
boy's  suffering  and  the  final  triumph  of  his  mind  and  his 
body." 

Enoch  stared  at  Diana  with  astonishment  in  every  line 
of  his  face.  Then  he  sighed.  "  He  couldn't  have  told 
you  all,"  he  muttered. 

"  Yes,  he  did,  all !  And  nothing,  not  even  what  the 
President  said  to-day,  can  mean  as  much  to  me  as  your 
asking  me  to  be  your  friend." 

Enoch  continued  to  stare  at  the  lovely,  tender  face 
opposite  him. 

Diana  smiled.  "  Don't  look  so  incredulous,  Mr.  Sec 
retary  !  It's  not  polite.  You  are  a  very  famous  per 
son.  I  am  nobody.  We  are  lunching  together  in  a 
wonderful  hotel.  I  don't  even  vaguely  surmise  the  names 
of  the  things  we  are  eating.  Don't  look  at  me  doubt- 
ingly.  Look  complacent  because  you  can  give  a  lady 
so  much  joy." 

Enoch  laughed  with  a  quick  relief  that  made  his  cheeks 
burn.  "  And  so  you  are  nobody !  Curious,  then,  that 
you  should  have  impressed  yourself  on  me  so  deeply  even 
when  you  were  a  child !  " 

It  was  Diana's  turn  to  laugh.  "  Oh,  come,  Mr.  Secre 
tary!  Of  course  I  don't  recall  it  myself,  but  Dad  has 
always  said  that  you  were  bored  to  death  at  having  a 
small  girl  taking  the  trail  with  you." 

"  Do  you  remember  that  your  mule  slipped  on  the  home 
trail  and  that  I  saved  your  life?"  demanded  Enoch. 

Diana  shook  her  head.     "  I  was  too  small  and  there 


A  PHOTOGRAPHER  OF  INDIANS      107 

were  too  many  canyon  trips  and  too  many  tourists.  I 
wish—" 

She  did  not  finish  her  sentence,  but  Enoch  said,  with 
a  thread  of  earnestness  in  his  deep  voice  that  made  Diana 
look  at  him  keenly,  "  I  wish  you  did  remember !  " 

There  was  a  moment's  silence,  then  Enoch  went  on, 
"  Shall  you  carry  on  your  work  with  the  Indians  alone 
as  you  always  have  done?  I  believe  I  can  quite  under 
stand  your  father's  uneasiness." 

"  Oh,  yes !  "  exclaimed  Diana,  glad  of  an  opportunity 
to  redirect  the  conversation.  "  Just  as  I  always  have 
done.  I  shall  have  no  trouble  unless  I  get  soft,  living 
at  the  Johnstown  Lunch !  Then  I  may  have  to  waste  time 
till  I  get  fit  again.  Have  you  ever  lived  on  the  trail, 
excepting  on  your  trip  to  the  Grand  Canyon,  Mr.  Secre 
tary?" 

"  Yes,  in  Canada  and  Maine,  while  I  was  in  college. 
I  used  to  tutor  rich  boys,  and  they  had  glorious  summers, 
lucky  kids !  But  since  getting  into  national  politics,  I've 
had  no  time  for  real  play." 

"  Some  day,"  said  Diana,  "  you  ought  to  get  up  an 
outfit  and  go  down  the  Colorado  from  the  Green  River 
to  the  Needles.  That's  a  real  adventure!  Only  a  few 
men  have  done  it  since  the  Powell  expeditions." 

Enoch's  eyes  brightened.  "  I  know!  Some  day,  per 
haps  I  shall,  if  Jonas  will  let  me!  How  long  do  you  sup 
pose  such  a  trip  would  take  ?  " 

Diana  plunged  into  a  description  of  a  recent  expedi 
tion  down  the  canyons  of  the  Colorado,  and  she  managed 
to  keep  the  remainder  of  the  luncheon  conversation  on 
this  topic.  But  as  far  as  Enoch  was  concerned,  Diana's 
effort  was  merely  a  conversational  detour.  The  luncheon 
finished  and  the  Gulf  of  California  safely  reached,  he  said 
as  he  handed  Diana  into  the  carriage : 

"  I've  never  had  a  friendship  with  a  woman  before," 
he  said.  "  What  do  I  do  next?  " 

Diana  sighed,  while  her  lips  curled  at  the  corners. 
"  Well,  Mr.  Secretary,  I  think  the  next  move  is  to  think 
the  matter  over  for  a  few  days,  quietly  and  alone." 


io8         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  Do  you  ?  "  Enoch  smiled  enigmatically.  "  I  don't 
know  that  it's  safe  for  me  to  rely  on  your  experience 
after  all !  "  But  he  said  no  more. 

Enoch  spent  the  evening  in  his  living-room  with  Sefior 
Juan  Cadiz  and  a  small,  lean,  brown  man  in  an  ill-fitting 
black  suit.  The  latter  did  not  speak  English,  and  Sefior 
Cadiz  acted  as  interpreter.  The  stranger  was  uneasy 
and  suspicious,  until  the  very  last  of  the  evening.  Then, 
after  a  long  half  hour  spent  in  silent  scowling  while  he 
stared  at  Enoch  and  listened  to  the  Secretary's  replies  to 
Cadiz's  eager  questions,  he  suddenly  burst  into  a  passion 
ate  torrent  of  Spanish.  A  look  of  great  relief  came  to 
Cadiz's  face,  as  he  said  to  Enoch : 

"  Now  he  says  he  trusts  you  and  will  tell  you  the  names 
of  the  Americans  who  are  paying  him." 

Enoch  began  to  jot  down  notes.  When  Cadiz's  trans 
lation  was  finished  Enoch  said : 

"  This  in  brief,  then,  is  the  situation.  A  group  of 
Americans  own  vast  oil  fields  in  Mexico.  They  have 
enormous  difficulty  policing  and  controlling  the  fields. 
The  Mexican  method  of  concession  making  is  exceedingly 
expensive  and  uncertain.  They  wish  the  United  States 
to  take  Mexico  over,  either  through  actual  conquest  or 
by  mandate.  They  have  hired  a  group  of  bandits  to  keep 
trouble  brewing  until  the  United  States  is  forced  by  Eng 
land,  Germany,  or  France,  to  interfere.  This  group  of 
men  is  partly  German  though  all  dvrell  in  the  United 
States.  Your  friend  here,  and  several  of  his  associates, 
if  I  personally  swear  to  take  care  of  them,  will  give  me 
information  under  oath  whenever  I  wish." 

"  Yes!  Yes!  Yes!  That  is  the  story!  "  cried  Senor 
Cadiz.  "  Oh,  Mr.  Secretary,  if  you  could  only  undo  the 
harm  that  your  cursed  American  method  of  making  the 
public  opinion  has  done,  both  here  and  in  Mexico.  Why 
should  neighbors  hate  each  other?  Mr.  Secretary,  tell 
these  Americans  to  get  out  of  Mexico  and  stay  out !  We 
are  foolish  in  many  ways,  but  we  want  to  learn  to  govern 
ourselves.  There  will  be  much  trouble  while  we  learn 
but  for  God's  sake,  Mr.  Secretary,  force  American  money 


A  PHOTOGRAPHER  OF  INDIANS      109 

to  leave  us  alone  while  we  struggle  in  our  birth  throes !  " 

Enoch  stood  up  to  his  great  height,  tossing  the  heavy 
copper-colored  hair  off  his  forehead.  He  looked  at  the 
two  Mexicans  earnestly,  then  he  said,  holding  out  his 
hand,  "  Sefior  Cadiz,  I'll  help  you  to  the  best  of  my  abil 
ity.  I  believe  in  you  and  in  the  ultimate  ability  of  your 
country  to  govern  itself.  Now  will  you  let  me  make  an 
appointment  for  you  with  the  Secretary  of  State?  Prop 
erly,  you  know,  you  should  have  gone  to  him  with  this." 

The  Mexican  shook  his  head.  "  No !  No !  Please, 
Mr.  Secretary!  We  do  not  know  him  well.  He  has 
shown  no  willingness  to  understand  us.  You!  you  are 
the  one  we  believe  in !  We  have  watched  you  for  years. 
We  know  that  you  are  honest  and  disinterested." 

"  But  I  shall  have  to  give  both  the  President  and  the 
Secretary  of  State  this  information,"  insisted  Enoch. 

"  That  is  in  your  hands,"  said  Sefior  Cadiz. 

"  Then,"  Enoch  nodded  as  Jonas  appeared  with  the 
inevitable  tinkling  glasses,  "  remain  quietly  in  Washing 
ton  until  you  hear  from  me  again." 

Jonas  held  the  door  open  on  the  departing  callers  with 
disapproval  in  every  line  of  his  face. 

"  How  come  that  colored  trash  to  be  setting  in  the 
parlors  of  the  government,  boss?  "  asked  he. 

"  They  are  Mexicans,  Jonas,"  replied  Enoch. 

"  Just  a  new  name  for  niggers,  boss,"  snapped  Jonas, 
following  Enoch  up  the  stairs.  "  Don't  you  trust  any 
colored  man  that  ain't  willing  to  call  hisself  black." 

Enoch  laughed  and  settled  himself  to  an  entry  in  the 
journal. 

"  This  was  the  happiest  day  of  my  life,  Diana.  We 
are  going  to  be  great  friends,  are  we  not !  And  the  phi 
losophers  tell  us  that  friendship  is  the  most  soul-satisfying 
of  all  human  relationships.  I  have  been  very  vacillating 
in  my  attitude  to  you,  since  you  came  to  Washington. 
But  I  cannot  lose  the  feeling  that  those  wise,  wistful  eyes 
of  yours  have  seen  my  trouble  and  understood.  I  won 
der  how  soon  I  can  see  you  again.  I'm  rather  proud  of 
my  behavior  to-day,  Diana,  dearest." 


CHAPTER     VI 

A    NEWSPAPER    REPORTER 

"I  wonder  if  Christ  ever  cared  for  a  woman.  He 
may  have,  for  God  wished  Him  to  know  and  suffer  all 
that  men  know  and  surfer,  and  all  love  must  have  been 
noble  in  His  eyes." 

—  Enoch's  Diary. 

ABBOTT,"  said  Enoch  the  next  day,  "  do  you  recall 
that  I  have  commented  to  you  several  times  on  the 
fact  that  some  of  the  southwestern  states  did  not  back 
the  Geological  Survey  in  its  search  for  oil  fields  as  we  had 
expected  they  would?" 

"  Yes,  Mr.  Secretary,"  answered  Charley,  looking  up 
from  his  notebook  with  keen  interest  in  eye  and  voice. 
"  I  have  wondered  just  wThy  the  matter  bothered  you 
so." 

"  It  has  bothered  me  for  several  different  reasons.  It 
has,  to  begin  with,  conflicted  with  my  idea  of  the  funda 
mental  purpose  of  this  office.  What  could  be  a  stronger 
reason  for  being  for  the  Geological  Survey  than  to  find 
and  show  the  public  the  resources  of  the  public  lands? 
When  the  Bureau  of  Mines  reports  to  me  that  certain  oil 
fields  are  diminishing  at  an  alarming  rate,  and  when  any 
fool  knows  that  a  vital  part  of  our  future  history  is  to 
be  written  in  terms  of  oil,  it  behooves  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  to  look  for  remedial  steps.  Certain  sections  of 
our  Southwest  are  saturated  with  oil  and  yet,  Abbott,  the 
states  resent  our  locating  oil  fields.  As  far  as  I  know 
now,  no  open  hostility  has  been  shown,  unless  " — Enoch 
interrupted  himself  suddenly, — "  do  you  recall  last  year 
that  some  Indians  drove  a  Survey  group  out  of  Apache 
Canyon  and  that  young  Rice  was  killed  and  all  his  data 
lost?" 

"  Certainly,  I  recall  it.     I  knew  Rice." 

no 


A  NEWSPAPER  REPORTER  111 

Enoch  nodded.  "  Do  you  recall  that  a  number  of 
newspapers  took  occasion  then  to  sneer  at  government 
attempts  to  usurp  State  and  commercial  functions?" 

"  Now  you  speak  of  it,  I  do  remember.  The  Brown 
papers  were  especially  nasty." 

"  Yes,"  agreed  Enoch.  "  Now  listen  closely,  Abbott. 
When  my  suspicions  had  been  sufficiently  roused,  I  went 
to  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  he  laughed  at  me.  Then, 
the  Mexico  trouble  began  to  come  to  a  head  and  I  told 
the  President  what  I  feared.  This  was  after  I'd  had  that 
letter  from  Juan  Cadiz.  Last  night,  as  you  know,  I  had 
a  session  with  Cadiz  and  one  of  his  bandit  friends.  Here 
is  what  I  drew  from  them." 

Enoch  reviewed  rapidly  his  conversation  of  the  night 
before.  Abbott  listened  with  snapping  eyes. 

"  It  looks  as  if  Secretary  Fowler  would  have  to  stop 
laughing,"  he  said,  when  Enoch  had  finished. 

"  Abbott,"  Enoch's  voice  was  very  low,  "  John  Fowler, 
the  Secretary  of  State,  always  will  laugh  at  it." 

"Why?"  asked  Charley. 

"  I  don't  know,"  replied  Enoch. 

The  two  men  stared  at  each  other  for  a  long  moment. 
Then  Abbott  said.  "  I've  known  for  a  long  time  that  he 
was  jealous  of  you,  politically.  Also  he  may  own  Mex 
ican  oil  stock  or  he  may  merely  wish  to  have  the  political 
backing  of  the  Brown  newspapers." 

"  Can  you  think  of  any  method  of  persuading  him  that 
I  am  not  a  political  rival,  that  I  merely  want  to  go  to 
the  Senate,  when  I  have  finished  here?"  asked  Enoch 
earnestly. 

Abbott  shook  his  head.  "  He  might  be  convinced  that 
you  want  to  be  a  Senator.  But  he's  a  clever  man.  And 
even  a  fool  knows  that  you  are  America's  man  on  horse 
back."  Charley's  voice  rose  a  little.  "  Why,  even  in 
this  rotten,  cynical  city  of  Washington,  they  believe  in 
you,  they  feel  that  you  are  the  man  of  destiny.  Mr.  Fow 
ler  is  just  clever  enough  to  be  jealous  of  you." 

A  look  of  sadness  came  into  Enoch's  keen  gaze.  "  I 
wonder  if  the  game  is  worth  it,  aft'er  all,"  murmured  he. 


112          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  Abbott,  I'd  swap  it  all  for  — "  he  stopped  abruptly, 
looked  broodingly  out  of  the  window,  then  said,  "  Char 
ley,  my  boy,  why  are  you  going  into  political  life?  " 

The  younger  man's  eyes  deepened  and  he  cleared  his 
throat.  "  A  few  years  ago,  if  I'd  answered  that  ques 
tion  truthfully,  I'd  have  said  for  personal  aggrandize 
ment  !  But  my  intimate  association  with  you,  Mr.  Hun 
tingdon,  has  given  me  a  different  ideal.  I'm  going  into 
politics  to  serve  this  country  in  the  best  way  I  can." 

"  Thanks,  Abbott,"  said  Enoch.  "  I've  been  wanting 
to  say  to  you  for  some  time  that  I  thought  you  had  served 
your  apprenticeship  as  a  secretary.  How  would  you  like 
an  appointment  as  a  special  investigator?" 

Charley  shook  his  head.  "  As  long  as  you  are  Secre 
tary  of  the  Interior,  I  prefer  this  job;  not  only  because 
of  my  personal  feeling  for  you  but  because  I  can  learn 
more  here  about  the  way  a  clean  political  game  can  be 
played  than  I  can  anywhere  else." 

"  All  right,  Abbott !  I'm  more  than  grateful  and  more 
than  satisfied  at  having  you  with  me.  See  if  I  can  have 
a  conference  with  first  the  Secretary  of  State  and  then 
the  President.  Now  let  me  finish  this  report  before  the 
Attorney  General  arrives." 

Enoch's  conference  with  Secretary  Fowler  was  incon 
clusive.  The  Secretary  of  State  chose  to  take  a  humor 
ous  attitude  toward  what  he  termed  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior's  midnight  conference  with  bandits.  Enoch 
laughed  with  him  and  then  departed  for  his  audience  with 
the  chief  executive. 

The  President  listened  soberly.     When  the  report  was 
finished,  he  scowled. 
'  "  What  attitude  does  Mr.  Fowler  take  in  this  ?  " 

"  He  thinks  I'm  making  mountains  out  of  mole  hills. 
It  seems  to  me,  Mr.  President,  that  I  must  be  extremely 
careful  not  to  encroach  on  the  domain  of  the  Secretary 
of  State.  My  idea  is  very  deliberately  to  push  the  work 
of  the  Geological  Survey  and  to  follow  very  carefully 
any  activities  against  its  work." 


A  NEWSPAPER  REPORTER  113 

"  All  very  well,  of  course,"  agreed  the  President,  "  but 
what  of  the  big  game  back  of  it  all  —  what's  the  means 
of  fighting  that?" 

"  Publicity,"  replied  Enoch  briefly. 

"  Exactly !  "  exclaimed  the  President.  "  There  are 
other  newspapers.  Brown  does  not  own  them  all.  As 
fast  as  evidence  is  produced,  let  the  story  be  told.  By 
Jove,  if  this  war  talk  grows  much  more  menacing,  Hun 
tingdon,  I  think  I'll  ask  you  to  go  across  the  country  and 
make  a  few  speeches, —  on  the  Geological  Survey !  " 

"  I'm  willing!  "  replied  Enoch,  with  a  little  sigh. 

The  President  looked  at  him  keenly.  "  Huntingdon, 
We're  working  you  too  hard !  You  look  tired.  I  try  not 
to  overload  you,  but — " 

"  But  you  are  so  overloaded  yourself  that  you  have  to 
shift  some  of  the  load,"  said  Enoch,  with  a  smile.  "  I'm 
not  seriously  tired,  Mr.  President." 

"  I  hope  not,  old  man.  By  the  way,  what  did  you  think 
of  Miss  Allen  yesterday?  " 

"  I  thought  her  a  very  interesting  young  woman,"  re 
plied  Enoch. 

"My  heavens,  man!"  exclaimed  the  chief  executive. 
"  What  do  you  want !  Why,  Diana  Allen  is  as  rare  as  — 
as  a  great  poem.  Look  here,  Huntingdon,  you  make  a 
mistake  to  cut  all  women  out  of  your  life.  It's  not  nor 
mal." 

"  Perhaps  not,"  agreed  Enoch  briefly.  "  I  would  be 
very  glad,"  he  added,  as  if  fearing  that  he  had  been  too 
abrupt,  "  I  would  be  very  glad  to  see  more  of  Miss  Al 
len." 

"  You  ought  to  make  a  great  effort  to  do,"  said  the 
President.  "  Keep  me  informed  on  this  Mexican  mat 
ter,  please,  and  take  care  of  yourself,  my  boy.  Good- 
by,  Mr.  Secretary.  Think  seriously  of  a  speaking  tour, 
won't  you  ?  " 

"  I  will,"  replied  Enoch  obediently,  as  he  left  the  room. 

The  remainder  of  the  day  was  crowded  to  the  utmost. 
It  was  not  until  midnight  that  Enoch  achieved  a  free  mo- 


114         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

ment.  This  was  when  in  the  privacy  of  his  own  room 
Jonas  had  bidden  him  a  final  good  night.  Enoch  did  not 
open  his  journal.  Instead  he  scrawled  a  letter. 

"  Dear  Miss  Allen :  After  deliberating  on  the  matter 
a  somewhat  shorter  time,  I'll  admit,  than  you  suggested, 
but  still  having  deliberated  on  it,  I  have  decided  that 
friendship  is  an  art  that  needs  attention  and  study.  Will 
you  not  dine  with  me  to-morrow,  or  rather,  this  evening, 
at  the  Ashton,  at  eight  o'clock?  Jonas,  who  will  bring 
you  this,  can  bring  your  answer.  Sincerely  yours,  Enoch 
Huntingdon." 

He  gave  the  note  to  Jonas  the  next  morning.  Jonas' 
black  eyes,  when  he  saw  the  superscription,  nearly  started 
from  their  sockets:  for  during  all  the  years  of  his  service 
with  Enoch,  he  never  had  carried  a  note  to  a  woman. 
It  was  mid-morning  when  he  tip-toed  to  the  Secretary's 
desk  and  laid  a  letter  on  it.  Enoch  was  in  conference  at 
the  time  with  Bill  Timmins,  perhaps  the  foremost  news 
paper  correspondent  in  America.  He  excused  himself 
for  a  moment  and  opened  the  envelope. 

"Dear  Mr.  Secretary:  Thank  you,  yes.  Sincerely, 
Diana  Allen." 

He  slipped  the  letter  into  his  breast  pocket  and  went 
on  with  the  interview,  his  face  as  somber  as  ever.  But 
all  that  day  it  seemed  to  the  watchful  Jonas  that  the  Sec 
retary  seemed  less  tired  than  he  had  been  for  weeks. 

There  was  a  little  balcony  at  the  Ashton,  just  big 
enough  for  a  table  for  two,  and  shielded  from  the  view 
of  the  main  dining-room  by  palms.  It  was  set  well  out 
from  the  second  floor,  overlooking  a  quiet  park.  Enoch 
was  in  the  habit  of  dining  here  with  various  men  with 
whom  he  wished  semi-privacy  yet  whom  he  did  not  care 
to  entertain  at  his  own  home. 

Diana  was  more  than  charmed  by  the  arrangement. 
The  corners  of  her  mouth  deepened  as  if  she  were  also 


A  NEWSPAPER  REPORTER  115 

amused,  but  Enoch,  engrossed  in  seating  her  where  the 
light  exactly  suited  him,  did  not  note  the  curving  lips. 
He  did  not  know  much  about  women's  dress,  but  he  liked 
Diana's  soft  white  gown,  and  the  curious  turquoise  neck 
lace  she  wore  interested  him.  He  asked  her  about  it. 

"  Na-che  gave  it  to  me,"  she  said.  "  It  was  her  moth 
er's.  It  has  no  special  significance  beyond  the  fact  that 
the  workmanship  is  very  fine  and  that  the  tracery  on  the 
silver  means  joy." 

"  Joy  ?     What  sort  of  joy  ?  "  asked  Enoch. 

"  Is  there  more  than  one  sort  ?  "  countered  Diana,  in 
the  bantering  voice  that  Enoch  always  fancied  was  half 
tender. 

"Oh,  yes!"  replied  the  Secretary.  "There's  joy  in 
work,  play,  friends.  There  are  as  many  kinds  of  joy 
as  there  are  kinds  of  sorrow.  Only  sorrow  is  so  much 
more  persistent  than  joy!  A  sorrow  can  stay  by  one 
forever.  But  joys  pass.  They  are  always  short  lived." 

"  Joy  in  work  does  not  pass,  Mr.  Secretary,"  said 
Diana. 

Enoch  laid  down  his  spoon.  "  Please,  Miss  Allen, 
don't  Mr.  Secretary  me  any  more." 

Diana  merely  smiled.  "  Granted  that  one  has  a  real 
friend,  I  believe  joy  in  friendship  is  permanent,"  she 
went  OIL 

"  I  hope  you're  right,"  said  Enoch  quietly.  "  We'll  see, 
you  and  I." 

Diana  did  not  reply.  She  was,  perhaps,  a  little  trou 
bled  by  Enoch's  calm  and  persistent  declaration  of  prin 
ciples.  It  is  not  easy  for  a  woman  even  of  Diana's  poise 
and  simple  sincerity  to  keep  in  order  a  gentleman  as  dis 
tinguished  and  as  courteous  and  as  obviously  in  earnest 
as  Enoch. 

Finally,  "  Do  you  mind  talking  your  own  shop,  Mr. 
Huntingdon?''  she  asked. 

"  Not  at  all,"  replied  Enoch  eagerly.  "  Is  there  some 
aspect  of  my  work  that  interests  you  ?  " 

"  I  imagine  that  all  of  it  would,"  said  Diana.  "  But 
I  was  not  thinking  of  your  work  as  a  Cabinet  Official.  I 


ii6         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

was  thinking  of  you  as  Police  Commissioner  of  New 
York." 

Enoch  looked  surprised. 

"  Father  wrote  to  me  the  other  day,"  Diana  went  on, 
"  and  asked  me  to  send  him  the  collection  of  your 
speeches.  I  bought  it  at  Brentano's  and  I  don't  mind 
telling  you  that  it  pinched  the  Johnstown  lunches  a  good 
bit  to  do  so,  but  it  was  worth  it,  for  I  read  the  book  be 
fore  mailing  it." 

"  You're  not  hinting  that  I  ought  to  reimburse  you, 
are  you  ?  "  demanded  Enoch,  with  a  delighted  chuckle. 

"  Well,  no  —  we'll  consider  that  the  luncheon  and  this 
dinner  square  the  Johnstown  pinching,  perhaps  a  trifle 
more.  What  I  wanted  to  say  was  that  it  struck  me  as 
worth  comment  that  after  you  ceased  being  Police  Com 
missioner,  you  never  again  talked  of  the  impoverished 
boyhood  of  America.  And  yet  you  were  a  very  success 
ful  Commissioner,  were  you  not?  " 

Enoch  looked  from  Diana  out  over  the  balcony  rail 
to  the  fountain  that  twinkled  in  the  little  park. 

"  One  of  the  most  difficult  things  in  public  life,"  he 
said  slowly,  "  is  to  hew  straight  to  the  line  one  laid  out 
at  the  beginning." 

"  I  should  think,"  Diana  suggested,  "  that  the  diffi 
culty  would  depend  on  what  the  line  was.  A  man  who 
goes  into  politics  to  make  himself  rich,  for  example, 
might  easily  stick  to  his  original  purpose." 

"  Exactly!  But  money  of  itself  never  interested  me !  " 
Here  Enoch  stopped  with  a  quick  breath.  There  flashed 
across  his  inward  vision  the  picture  of  a  boy  in  Luigi's 
second  story,  throwing  dice  with  passionate  intensity. 
Enoch  took  a  long  sip  of  water,  then  went  on.  "  I  wanted 
to  be  Police  Commissioner  of  New  York  because  I 
wanted  to  make  it  impossible  for  other  boys  to  have  a 
boyhood  like  mine.  I  don't  mean  that,  quite  literally,  I 
thought  one  man  or  one  generation  could  accomplish  the 
feat.  But  I  did  truly  think  I  could  make  a  beginning. 
Miss  Allen,  in  spite  of  the  beautiful  fights  I  had,  in  spite 
of  the  spectacular  clean-ups  we  made,  I  did  nothing  for 


A  NEWSPAPER  REPORTER  117 

the  boys  that  my  successor  did  not  wipe  out  with  a  single 
stroke  of  his  pen,  his  first  week  in  office." 

Diana  drew  a  long  breath.  "  I  wonder  why,"  she 
said. 

"  I  think  that  lack  of  imagination,  poor  memory,  per 
sonal  selfishness,  is  the  answer.  There  is  nothing  people 
forget  quite  so  quickly  as  the  griefs  of  their  own  child 
hood.  There  is  nothing  more  difficult  for  people  to 
imagine  than  how  things  affect  a  child's  mind.  And  yet, 
nothing  is  so  important  in  America  to-day  as  the  right 
kind  of  education  for  boys.  It  has  not  been  found  as 
yet." 

"  Have  you  a  theory  about  it?  "  asked  Diana. 

"  Yes,  I  have.     Have  you?  " 

Diana  nodded.  "  I  don't  think  boys  and  girls  should 
be  educated  from  the  same  angle." 

"  No  ?     Why  not  ?  "     Enoch's  blue  eyes  were  eager. 

"  Wandering  about  the  desert  among  the  Indians,  one 
has  leisure  to  think  and  to  observe  the  workings  of  life 
under  frank  and  simple  conditions.  It  has  seemed  to 
me  that  the  boy  approaches  life  from  an  entirely  different 
direction  from  a  girl  and  that  our  system  of  education 
should  recognize  that.  Both  are  primarily  guided  by 
sex,  their  femaleness  or  their  maleness  is  always  their 
impelling  force.  I'm  talking  now  on  the  matter  of  the 
spiritual  and  moral  training,  not  book  education." 

"  Why  not  include  the  mental  training?  I  think  you'd 
be  quite  right  in  doing  so." 

"  Perhaps  so,"  replied  Diana. 

They  were  silent  for  a  moment,  then  Enoch  said,  with 
a  quiet  vehemence,  "  Some  day  they'll  dare  to  defy  the 
creeds  and  put  God  into  the  public  schools.  I  don't  know 
about  girls,  but,  Miss  Allen,  the  growing  boys  need  Him 
more  than  they  need  a  father.  Something  to  cling  to, 
something  high  and  noble  and  permanent  while  sex  with 
all  its  thousand  varied  impulses  flagellates  them!  Some 
thing  to  go  to  with  those  exquisite,  generous  fancies  that 
even  the  worst  boy  has  and  that  even  the  best  boy  will 
not  share  even  with  the  best  mother.  The  homes  to- 


ii8          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

day  don't  have  God  in  them.  The  churches  with  their 
hide-bound  creeds  frighten  away  most  men.  Think,  Miss 
Allen,  think  of  the  travesty  of  our  great  educational  sys^ 
tem  which  ignores  the  two  great  facts  of  the  universe, 
God  and  sex." 

"  You've  never  put  any  of  this  into  your  public  utter 
ances." 

"  No,"  replied  Enoch,  "  I've  been  saving  it  for  you," 
and  he  looked  at  her  with  a  quiet  smile. 

Diana  could  but  smile  in  return. 

"  And  so,"  said  Enoch,  "  returning  to  the  answer  to 
your  original  question,  I  have  found  it  hard  to  keep  to 
any  sort  of  fine  idealism,  partly  because  of  my  own  in 
ward  struggles  and  partly  because  politics  is  a  vile  game 
anyhow." 

"We  Americans,"  Diana  lifted  her  chin  and  looked 
into  Enoch's  eyes  very  directly,  "  feel  that  at  least  one 
politician  has  played  a  clean  game.  It  is  a  very  great 
privilege  for  me  to  know  you,  Mr.  Huntingdon." 

"  Miss  Allen,"  half  whispered  Enoch,  "  if  you  really 
knew  me,  with  all  my  inward  devils  and  my  half -achieved 
dreams,  you  would  realize  that  it's  no  privilege  at  all. 
Nevertheless,  I  wish  that  you  did  know  all  about  me.  It 
would  make  me  feel  that  the  friendship  which  we  are 
forming  could  stand  even  '  the  wreckful  siege  of  batter 
ing  days ' !  " 

"  There  was  a  man  who  understood  friendships !  "  said 
Diana  quickly.  "  He  said  in  his  sonnets  all  that  could 
be  said  about  it." 

"  Now  don't  disappoint  me  by  agreeing  with  the  idiots 
who  try  to  prove  that  Shakespeare  wrote  the  sonnets  to 
a  man !  "  cried  Enoch.  "  Only  a  woman  could  have 
brought  forth  that  beauty  of  song." 

Diana  rose  nobly  to  do  battle.  "  What  nonsense,  Mr. 
Huntingdon!  As  if  a  man  like  Shakespeare — '  She 
paused  as  if  struck  by  a  sudden  thought.  '''  That's  a 
curious  attitude  for  a  notorious  woman  hater  to  take,  Mr. 
Secretary." 

Enoch  laid  down  his   fork.     "  Do  you  think  I'm  a 


A  NEWSPAPER  REPORTER  119 

woman  hater,  Miss  Allen  ?  "  looking  steadily  into  Diana's 
eyes. 

"  I    didn't    mean    to    be    so    personal.     Just    like    a 
woman  !  "  sighed  Diana. 

"  But  do  you  think  I'm  a  woman  hater  ?  "   insisted 
Enoch. 

Diana  looked  up  earnestly.  "  Please,  Mr.  Hunting 
don,  if  our  friendship  is  to  ripen,  you  must  not  force  it." 
Enoch's  face  grew  suddenly  white.  There  swept  over 
him  with  bitter  realism  a  conception  of  the  falseness  of 
the  position  into  which  he  was  permitting  himself  to 
drift.  He  answered  his  own  question  with  an  attempted 
lightness  of  tone. 

"  I  can  never  marry,  but  I  don't  hate  women." 
Diana's  chin  lifted  and  Enoch  leaned  forward  quickly. 
All  the  aplomb  won  through  years  of  suffering  and  ex 
perience  deserted  him.     For  the  moment  he  was  again 
the  boy  in  the  bottom  of  the  Grand  Canyon. 

"  Oh,  I  am  stupid,  but  let  me  explain.  I  want  you 
to—" 

"  Please  don't !  "  said  Diana  coldly.  "  I  need  no  warn 
ing,  Mr.  Huntingdon." 

"  Oh,  my  dear  Miss  Allen,  you  must  not  be  offended ! 
What  can  I  say?" 

"  You  might  ask  me  if  it's  not  time  to  go  home,"  sug 
gested  Diana,  coolly.  "  You  mustn't  forget  that  I'm 
a  wage  earner." 

Enoch  bit  his  lip  and  turned  to  sign  the  check.  Then 
he  followed  Diana  to  the  door.  Here  they  came  upon 
the  Indian  Commissioner  and  his  wife,  and  all  oppor 
tunity  for  explanations  was  gone  for  the  two  invited 
themselves  to  walk  along  to  Diana's  rooming  place. 
Enoch  went  up  the  steps  with  Diana,  however,  and  asked 
her  tensely : 

"  Will  you  lunch  with  me  to-morrow,  Miss  Allen,  that 
I  may  explain  myself?" 

"  Thank  you,  no.  I  shall  be  very  busy  to-morrow, 
Mr.  Huntingdon." 

"  Let  me  call  here  in  the  evening,  then." 


120         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  I'd  rather  you  wouldn't,"  answered  the  girl,  coldly. 
"  Good  night,  Mr.  Secretary,"  and  she  was  gone. 

Enoch  stood  as  if  struck  dumb,  then  he  made  an  ex 
cuse  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Watkins,  and  started  homeward. 
The  night  was  stifling.  When  Jonas  let  him  into  the 
house,  his  collar  was  limp  and  his  hair  lay  wet  on  his 
forehead. 

"  I'm  going  to  New  York  to-night,  Jonas,"  he  said 
huskily. 

"What's  happened,  boss?"  asked  Jonas  breathlessly, 
as  he  followed  Enoch  up  the  stairs. 

"Nothing!  I'm  going  to  give  myself  a  day's  rest. 
Give  me  something  to  travel  in,"  pulling  off  his  coat. 

"  I'm  going  with  you,  boss,"  not  stirring,  his  black 
eyes  rolling. 

"  No,  I'm  going  alone,  Jonas.  Here,  I'll  pack  my 
own  grip.  You  go  on  out."  This  in  a  voice  that  sent 
Jonas,  however  reluctantly,  into  the  hall,  where  he  walked 
aimlessly  up  and  down,  wringing  his  hands. 

"  He  ain't  been  as  bad  as  this  in  years,"  he  muttered. 
"  I  wonder  what  she  did  to  him !  " 

Enoch  came  out  of  his  room  shortly.  "  Tell  every 
one  I'm  in  New  York,  Jonas,"  he  said,  and  was  gone. 

But  Enoch  did  not  go  to  New  York.  There  was,  he 
found  on  reaching  the  station,  no  train  for  an  hour.  He 
checked  his  suitcase,  and  the  watching  Jonas  followed 
him  out  into  the  dark  streets.  He  knew  exactly  whither 
the  boss  was  heading,  and  when  Enoch  had  been  ad 
mitted  into  a  brick  house  on  a  quiet  street  not  a  stone's 
throw  from  the  station,  Jonas  entered  nimbly  through 
the  basement. 

He  had  a  short  conference  with  a  colored  man  in  the 
kitchen,  then  he  went  up  to  the  second  floor  and  sat  down 
in  a  dark  corner  of  the  hall  where  he  could  keep  an  eye 
on  all  who  entered  the  rear  room.  Well  dressed  men 
came  and  went  from  the  room  all  night.  It  was  nearing 
six  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  Jonas  stopped  a  waiter 
who  was  carrying  in  a  tray  of  coffee. 

"  How  many's  there  now  ?  "  he  demanded. 


A  NEWSPAPER  REPORTER  121 

"  Only  four,"  replied  the  waiter.  "  That  red-headed 
gt<y's  winning  the  shirts  off  their  backs.  I've  seen 
this  kind  of  a  game  before.  It's  good  for  another 
day." 

"  Are  any  of  'em  drinking?  "  asked  Jonas. 

"  Nothing  but  coffee.     Lord,  I'm  near  dead !  " 

"  Let  me  take  that  tray  in  for  you.  I  want  to  get  word 
to  my  boss." 

The  waiter  nodded  and,  sinking  into  Jonas'  chair, 
closed  his  eyes. 

Jonas  carried  the  tray  into  a  handsome,  smoke  filled 
room,  where  four  men  with  intent  faces  were  gathered 
around  a  card  table.  Enoch,  in  his  shirt  sleeves,  was 
dealing  as  Jonas  set  a  steaming  cup  at  his  elbow.  Per 
haps  the  intensity  of  the  colored  man's  gaze  distracted 
Enoch's  attention  for  a  moment  from  the  cards.  He 
looked  up  and  when  he  fnet  Jonas'  eyes  he  deliberately 
laid  down  the  deck,  rose,  took  Jonas  by  the  arm  and  led 
him  to  the  door. 

"  Don't  try  this  again,  Jonas,"  he  said,  and  he  closed 
the  door  after  his  steward. 

Once  more  Jonas  took  up  his  vigil.  He  left  his  chair 
at  nine  o'clock  to  telephone  Charley  Abbott  that  the  Sec 
retary  had  gone  to  New  York,  then  he  returned  to  his 
place.  Noon  came,  afternoon  waned.  As  dusk  drew 
on  again,  Jonas  went  once  more  to  the  telephone. 

"That  you,  Miss  Allen?  .  .  .  This  is  Jonas.  .  .  . 
Yes,  ma'am,  I'm  well,  but  the  boss  is  in  a  dangerous  con 
dition.  .  .  .  Yes,  ma'am,  I  thought  you'd  feel  bad  be 
cause  you  see,  it's  your  fault.  .  .  .  No,  ma'am,  I  can't 
explain  over  the  telephone,  but  if  you'll  come  to  the  sta 
tion  and  meet  me  at  the  news-stand  on  the  corner,  I'll 
tell  you.  .  .  .  Miss^  Allen,  for  God's  sake,  just  trust  me 
and  come  along.  Come  now,  in  a  cab,  and  I'll  pay  for 
it.  ...  Thank  you!  Thank  you,  ma'am!  Thank 
you!  " 

He  banged  up  the  receiver  and  flew  out  the  basement 
door.  When  he  reached  the  news-stand,  he  stood  with 
his  hands  twitching,  talking  to  himself  for  a  half  hour 


122          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

before  Diana  appeared.  She  walked  up  to  him  as  di< 
rectly  as  a  man  would  have  done. 

"What's  happened,  Jonas?" 

"  You  and  the  boss  must  have  quarreled  last  night. 
When  anything  strikes  the  boss  deep,  he  wants  to  gam 
ble.  Of  late  years  he's  mostly  fought  it  off,  but  once 
in  a  while  it  gets  him.  He's  been  at  it  since  last  night 
over  yonder,  and  for  the  first  time  in  years  I  can't  do 
anything  with  him.  And  if  it  gets  out,  you  know,  Miss 
Allen,  he's  ruined.  I  don't  dast  to  leave  him  long,  that's 
why  I  got  you  to  come  here." 

Diana's  chin  lifted.  "  Do  you  mean  to  tell  me  that 
a  man  of  Mr.  Huntingdon's  reputation  and  ability,  still 
stoops  to  that  sort  of  thing?  " 

"Stoop!  \Vhat  do  you  mean,  stoop?  O  Lord,  I 
thought,  seeing  he  sets  the  world  by  you,  that  you  was 
different  from  the  run  of  women  and  would  under 
stand."  Jonas  twisted  his  brown  hands  together. 

"Understand  what?"  asked  Diana,  her  great  eyes 
fastened  on  Jonas  with  pity  and  scorn  struggling  in  them. 

"  Understand  what  it  means  to  him.  How  it's  like  a 
conjur  that  Luigi  wished  on  him  when  he  was  a  little 
boy.  How  he's  pulled  himself  away  from  it  and  he 
didn't  have  anybody  on  earth  to  help  him  till  I  come 
along.  What  do  you  women  folks  know  about  how  a 
strong  man  like  him  fights  Satan?  I've  seen  him  walk 
the  floor  all  night  and  win,  and  I've  seen  him  after  he's 
given  in,  suffer  sorrow  and  hate  of  himself  like  a  man 
the  Almighty's  forgot.  That's  why  he's  so  good,  be 
cause  he  sins  and  then  suffers  for  it." 

As  Jonas'  husky  voice  subsided,  a  sudden  gleam  of 
tears  shone  in  Diana's  eyes. 

"  I'll  send  him  a  note,  Jonas,  and  wait  here  for  the 
answer.  If  that  doesn't  bring  him,  I'll  go  after  him  my 
self." 

"  The  note'll  bring  him,"  said  Jonas,  "  and  he'll  give 
me  thunder  for  telling." 

"  Let  me  have  a  pencil  and  get  me  some  paper  from  the 
news-stand."  She  wrote  rapidly. 


A  NEWSPAPER  REPORTER  123 

"  Dear  Mr.  Huntingdon : 

"  I  must  see  you  at  once  on  urgent  business.  I  am 
in  the  railway  station.  Could  you  come  to  me  here? 

"  DIANA  ALLEN." 

Jonas  all  but  snatched  the  note  and  dashed  away. 
Enoch  was  scowling  at  the  cards  before  him  when  Jonas 
thrust  the  note  into  his  hand.  Enoch  stared  at  the 
address,  laid  the  cards  down  slowly,  and  read  the 
note. 

"  All  right,  gentlemen,"  he  said  quietly.  "  I've  had 
my  fun !  Good  night !  "  He  took  his  hat  from  Jonas 
and  strode  out  of  the  room.  He  did  not  speak  as  the 
two  walked  rapidly  to  the  station.  Diana  was  standing 
by  a  cab  near  the  main  entrance. 

"  This  is  good  of  you,  Mr.  Huntingdon,"  she  said 
gravely,  shaking  hands.  "  Thank  you,  Jonas !  "  She 
entered  the  cab  and  Enoch  followed  her. 

"  Let  me  have  your  suitcase  check,  boss."  Jonas  held 
out  a  black  hand  that  still  shook  a  little. 

"  I'll  get  Miss  Allen  to  drop  me  at  the  house,  Jonas," 
said  Enoch. 

Jonas  nodded  and  heaved  a  great  sigh  as  the  cab  started 
off. 

"  How  did  you  come  to  do  it  ?  "  asked  Enoch,  looking 
strangely  at  Diana. 

"  I  heard  you  were  in  New  York,  Mr.  Secretary. 
Jonas  called  me  up!  " 

"  Jonas  had  no  business  to  do  so.  I  am  humiliated 
beyond  words ! " 

Enoch  spoke  with  a  dreary  sort  of  hopelessness. 

"  I  thought  we  were  friends,"  said  Diana  calmly.  "  It 
isn't  as  if  we  hadn't  known  each  other  and  all  about  each 
other  since  childhood.  You  must  not  say  a  word  against 
Jonas." 

"  How  could  I  ?  He  is  my  guardian  angel,"  said 
Enoch. 

Diana  went  on  still  in  the  commonplace  tone  of  th£ 
tea  table.  "  I  want  to  apologize  for  my  fit  of  temper, 


124 

Mr.  Secretary.  I  was  very  stupid  and  I'm  thoroughly 
ashamed  of  myself.  You  may  tell  me  anything  you 
please !  " 

"  I  don't  deserve  it !  "     Enoch  spoke  abruptly. 

Diana's  voice  suddenly  deepened  and  softened.  "  Aft, 
but  you  do  deserve  it,  dear  Mr.  Secretary.  You  deserve 
all  that  grateful  citizens  can  do  for  you,  and  even  then 
we  cannot  expect  to  discharge  our  full  debt  to  you. 
Here's  my  house.  Perhaps  when  you're  not  too  busy, 
you'll  ask  me  to  dine  again  with  you." 

Enoch  did  not  reply.  He  stood  with  bared  head  while 
she  ran  up  the  steps.  Then  he  reentered  the  cab  and  was 
driven  home.  But  it  was  not  till  two  weeks  later  that 
Enoch  sent  a  note  to  Diana,  asking  her  to  take  dinner 
with  him.  Even  his  diary  during  that  period  showed 
no  record  of  his  inward  flagellations.  He  did  not  re 
ceive  an  answer  until  late  in  the  afternoon. 

It  had  been  an  exceptionally  hectic  day.  Enoch  had 
been  summoned  before  the  Senate  Committee  on  appro 
priations,  and  with  the  director  of  the  Reclamation  Serv 
ice  had  endured  a  grilling  that  had  had  some  aspects  of 
the  third  degree. 

After  some  two  hours  of  it  the  Director  had  lost  his 
temper. 

"  Gentlemen !  "  he  had  cried,  "  treat  me  as  if  I  were 
a  common  thief,  attempting  to  loot  the  public  funds,  if 
you  find  satisfaction  in  it,  but  at  least  do  not  humiliate 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  in  the  same  manner!  " 

"  These  people  can't  humiliate  me,  Whipple."  Enoch 
had  spoken  quietly. 

The  blow  had  struck  home  and  the  Senator  who  was 
acting  as  chairman  had  apologized. 

Enoch  had  nodded.  "  I  know !  You  are  in  the  po 
sition  of  having  to  appropriate  funds  for  the  carrying 
on  of  a  highly  specialized  business  about  which  you  are 
utterly  ignorant.  You  are  uneasy  and  you  mistake  im 
pertinent  questioning  for  keen  investigation." 

"  I  move  we  adjourn  until  to-morrow,"  a  member  had 
said  hastily.  The  motion  had  carried  and  Enoch,  al-. 


A  NEWSPAPER  REPORTER  125 

though  it  was  already  past  six  o'clock,  had  started  for  his 
office,  Whipple  accompanying  him. 

"  After  all  this  howl  over  the  proposed  Paloma  Dam," 
said  Whipple,  "  we  may  not  be  able  to  build  it.  There's 
a  bunch  of  Mexicans  both  this  and  the  other  side  of  the 
border  that  have  made  serious  trouble  with  the  prelimi 
nary  survey,  and  I  have  the  feeling  that  there  is  some 
power  behind  that  wants  to  start  something." 

"  Is  that  so  ?  "  asked  Enoch  with  interest.  "  Come 
in  and  talk  to  me  a  few  moments  about  it." 

Whipple  followed  to  the  Secretary's  office.  A  sealed 
letter  was  lying  on  the  desk.  Enoch  opened  it,  and  read 
it  without  ceremony. 

"  Dear  Mr.  Huntingdon :  I  find  that  some  old  friends 
are  starting  for  the  Grand  Canyon  this  afternoon  and 
they  have  given  me  an  opportunity  to  make  one  of  their 
party.  I  have  been  able  to  arrange  my  work  to  Mr. 
Watkins'  satisfaction  and  so,  I'm  off.  I  want  to  thank 
you  very  deeply  for  the  wonderful  openings  you  have 
made  for  me  and  for  the  very  great  personal  kindness  you 
have  shown  me.  Wrhen  I  return  in  the  winter,  I  hope 
I  may  see  you  again. 

"  Very  sincerely  yours, 

"  DIANA  ALLEN." 

Enoch  folded  the  note  and  slipped  it  into  his  pocket, 
then  he  looked  at  the  waiting  Director.  "  I  hope  you'll 
excuse  me,  Whipple,  but  this  is  something  to  which  I 
must  give  my  personal  attention,"  and  without  a  word 
further,  he  put  on  his  hat  and  walked  out  of  the  office. 
He  did  not  go  to  his  waiting  carriage  but,  leaving  the 
building  by  another  door,  he  walked  quickly  to  the  drug 
store  on  the  corner  and,  entering  a  telephone  booth,  called 
the  railroad  station.  The  train  connecting  for  the  South 
west  had  left  an  hour  before.  Enoch  hung  up  the  re 
ceiver  and  walked  out  to  the  curb,  scowling  and  strik 
ing  his  walking  stick  against  his  trouser  leg.  Finally  he 
got  aboard  a  trolley. 


126          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

It  was  a  little  after  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  when 
Jonas  located  him.  Enoch  was  leaning  against  the  wall 
watching  the  roulette  table. 

"  Good  evening,  boss,"  said  Jonas. 

Enoch  looked  round  at  him.  "That  you,  Jonas?  I 
haven't  touched  a  card  or  a  dollar  this  evening,  Jonas." 

Jonas,  who  had  already  ascertained  this  from  the 
owner  of  the  gambling  house,  nodded. 

"  Have  you  had  your  supper  yet,  boss?  " 

Enoch  hesitated,  thinking  heavily.  "  Why,  no,  Jonas, 
I  guess  not."  Then  he  added  irritably,  "  A  man  must 
rest,  Jonas.  I  can't  slave  all  the  time." 

"  Sure !  "  returned  the  colored  man,  holding  his  trem 
bling  hands  behind  him.  "  But  how  come  you  to  think 
this  was  rest,  boss?  You  better  come  back  now  and  let 
me  fix  you  a  bite  to  eat." 

"  Jonas,  what's  the  use?  Who  on  earth  but  you  cares 
what  I  do?  What's  the  use?  " 

"  Miss  Diana  Allen,"  said  Jonas  softly,  "  she  told  Mr. 
Abbott  this  noon,  at  lunch,  that  you  was  one  of  the  great 
men  of  this  country  and  that  he  was  a  lucky  dog  to  spend 
all  his  time  with  you." 

Enoch  stood,  his  arms  folded  on  his  chest,  his  massive 
head  bowed.  Finally  he  said,  "  All  right,  old  man,  I'll 
try  again.  But  I'm  lonely,  Jonas,  lonely  beyond  words, 
and  all  the  greatness  in  the  world,  Jonas,  can't  fill  an 
empty  heart." 

"  I  know  it,  boss !  I  know  it !  "  said  Jonas  huskily,  as 
he  led  the  way  to  the  street.  There,  Enoch  insisted  on 
walking  the  three  or  four  miles  home. 

"  All  right,"  agreed  Jonas,  cheerfully.  "  I  guess 
ghosteses  don't  mind  travel,  and  that's  all  I  am,  just  a 
ghost." 

Enoch  stopped  abruptly,  put  a  hand  on  Jonas'  shoul 
der  and  hailed  a  passing  night  prowler.  Once  in  the  cab, 
Jonas  said: 

"  The  White  House  done  called  you  twice  to-night, 
Mr.  Secretary.  I  told  'em  you'd  call  first  thing  in  the 
morning." 


A  NEWSPAPER  REPORTER  127 

"  Thanks !  "  replied  Enoch  briefly. 

The  house  was  silent  when  they  reached  it.  Jonas 
never  employed  servants  who  could  not  sleep  in  their 
own  homes.  By  the  time  the  Secretary  was  ready  for 
bed,  Jonas  appeared  with  a  tray,  Enoch  silently  and  obe 
diently  ate  and  then  turned  in. 

The  White  House  called  before  the  Secretary  had  fin 
ished  breakfast. 

"You  saw  last  night's  papers?"  asked  the  President. 

"  No!     I'm  sorry.     I  —  I  took  a  rest  last  evening." 

"  I'm  glad  you  did.  Well,  I  think  you'd  better  plan  — 
no, —  come  up  here,  will  you,  at  once?  I  won't  try  to 
talk  to  you  over  the  telephone." 

Enoch,  in  the  carriage,  glanced  over  the  paper.  The 
Brown  paper  of  the  evening  before  contained  a  nasty 
little  story  of  innuendo  about  the  work  of  the  Survey 
near  Paloma.  The  morning  paper  declared  in  glaring 
headlines  that  the  President  by  his  pacifist  policy  toward 
Mexico  was  tainting  the  nation's  honor  and  that  it  would 
shortly  bring  England,  France  and  Germany  about  our 
ears. 

The  President  was  still  at  breakfast  when  Enoch  was 
shown  in  to  him.  The  chief  executive  insisted  that 
Enoch  have  a  cup  of  coffee. 

"  You  don't  look  to  me,  my  boy,  like  a  man  who  had 
enjoyed  his  rest.  And  I'm  going  to  ask  you  to  add  to 
your  burdens.  Could  you  leave  next  week  for  a  speak 
ing  trip  ?  " 

The  tired  lines  around  Enoch's  mouth  deepened. 
"  Yes,  Mr.  President.  Have  you  a  general  route 
planned  ?  " 

"  Yes,  New  York,  Chicago,  Denver,  San  Francisco 
and  in  between  as  can  be  arranged.  Take  two  months 
to  it." 

"  I  shall  be  glad  to  be  free  of  office  routine  for  a 
while,"  said  Enoch.  He  sipped  his  coffee  slowly,  then 
rose  as  he  added : 

"  I  shall  stick  strictly  to  the  work  of  my  department, 
Mr.  President,  in  the  speech  making." 


128          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"Oh!  Absolutely!  And  let  me  be  of  any  help  to 
you  I  may." 

'  Thank  you,"  Enoch  smiled  a  little  grimly.  "  You 
might  come  along  and  supply  records  for  the  phono 
graph." 

"By  Jove,  I  would  if  it  were  necessary!"  said  the 
President. 

Jonas  and  Abbott  each  was  perfect  in  his  own  line. 
In  five  days'  time  Enoch  was  aboard  the  private  car, 
with  such  paraphernalia  as  was  needed  for  carrying  on 
office  work  en  route.  The  itinerary  had  been  arranged 
to  the  last  detail.  A  few  carefully  chosen  newspaper 
correspondents  were  aboard  and  one  hot  September  eve 
ning,  a  train  with  the  Secretary's  car  hitched  to  it,  pulled 
out  of  Washington. 

Of  Enoch's  speeches  on  that  trip  little  need  be  said 
here.  Never  before  had  he  spoken  with  such  fire  and 
with  such  simple  eloquence.  The  group  of  speeches  he 
made  are  familiar  now  to  every  schoolboy.  One  cannot 
read  them  to-day  without  realizing  that  the  Secretary 
was  trying  as  never  before  to  interpret  for  the  public 
his  own  ideals  of  service  to  the  common  need.  He 
seemed  to  Abbott  and  to  the  newspaper  men  who  for  six 
weeks  were  so  intimately  associated  with  him  to  draw 
inspiration  and  information  from  the  free  air.  And 
there  was  to  all  of  his  speeches  an  almost  wistful  per 
suasiveness,  as  if,  Abbott  said,  he  picked  one  listener 
in  each  audience,  each  night,  and  sought  anew  to  make 
him  feel  the  insidious  peril  to  the  nation's  soul  that  lay 
in  personal  complacency  and  indifference  to  the  nation's 
spiritual  welfare.  Only  Jonas,  struggling  to  induce  the 
Secretary  to  take  a  decent  amount  of  sleep,  nodded  wisely 
to  himself.  He  knew  that  Enoch  made  each  speech  to 
a  lovely,  tender  face,  that  no  man  who  saw  ever  forgot. 

Little  by  little,  the  newspapers  of  the  country  began 
to  take  Enoch's  point  of  view.  They  not  only  gave  his 
speeches  in  full,  but  they  commented  on  them  editorially, 
at  great  length,  and  with  the  exception  of  the  Brown 
papers,  favorably.  By  the  time  Enoch  was  on  his 


A  NEWSPAPER  REPORTER  129 

home,  with  but  two  weeks  more  of  speech  making  before 
him,  it  looked  as  though  the  thought  of  war  with  Mex 
ico  had  been  definitely  quashed.  And  Enoch  was  tired 
to  the  very  marrow  of  his  bones. 

But  the  Brown  papers  were  not  finished.  One  eve 
ning,  in  Arizona,  shortly  after  the  train  had  pulled  out 
of  a  station,  Enoch  asked  for  the  newspapers  that  had 
been  brought  aboard  from  the  desert  city.  Charley  Ab 
bott,  who  had  been  with  the  newspaper  men  on  the 
observation  platform  for  an  hour  or  so,  answered  the 
Secretary's  request  with  a  curiously  distraught  manner. 

"I  —  that  is  —  Mr.  Huntingdon,  Jonas  says  you  slept 
worse  than  ever  last  night.  Why  not  save  the  papers  till 
morning  and  try  to  sleep  now?  " 

Enoch  looked  at  his  secretary  keenly.  "  Picked  up 
some  Brown  papers  here,  eh!  Nothing  that  bunch  can 
say  can  hurt  me,  old  man." 

,      "  Don't  you  ever  think  it !  "  exclaimed  Charley  vehem- 

jently.     "  You  might  as  well  say  you  were  immune  to 

rattler  bites,  Mr.  Huntingdon  —    '  here  his  voice  broke. 

"  Look  here,  Abbott,"  said  Enoch,  "  if  it's  bad,  I've 
got  to  fight  it,  haven't  I  ?  " 

"  But  this  sort  of  thing,  a  man  — "  Charley  suddenly 
steadied  himself.  "  Mr.  Secretary,  they've  put  some 
nasty  personal  lies  about  you  in  the  paper.  The  coun 
try  at  large  and  all  of  us  who  know  you,  scorn  the  lies 
as  much  as  they  do  Brown.  In  a  day  or  so,  if  we  ignore 
them,  the  stuff  will  have  been  forgotten.  I  beg  of 
you,  don't  read  any  newspapers  until  I  tell  you  all's 
clear." 

Enoch  smiled.  "  Why,  my  dear  old  chap,  I've  weath 
ered  all  sorts  of  mud  slinging!  " 

"  But  never  this  particular  brand,"  insisted  Charley. 

"  Let's  have  the  papers,  Abbott.  I'm  not  afraid  of 
anything  Brown  can  say." 

Charley  grimly  handed  the  papers  to  the  Secretary  and 
returned  to  the  observation  platform. 

A  reporter  had  seen  Enoch  in  the  gambling  house  on 
^the  evening  of  Diana's  departure  for  the  Canyon.  He 


130         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

had  learned  something  from  the  gambling  house  keeper 
of  the  Secretary's  several  trips  there.  The  reporter  had 
then,  with  devilish  ingenuity,  followed  Enoch  back  to 
Minetta  Lane,  where  he  had  found  Luigi.  Then  fol 
lowed  eight  or  ten  paragraphs  in  Luigi's  own  words,  giv 
ing  an  account  of  Enoch  and  Enoch's  mother.  The  whole 
story  was  given  with  a  deadly  simplicity,  that  it  seemed 
to  the  Secretary  must  carry  conviction  with  it. 

As  Enoch  had  told  Abbott,  he  had  weathered  much 
political  mud  slinging,  but  even  his  worst  political  ene 
mies  had  spared  him  this.  His  adherents  had  made  much 
of  the  fact  that  Enoch  was  slum  bred  and  self  made. 
That  was  the  sort  of  story  which  the  inherent  democracy 
of  America  loved.  But  the  Brown  account  made  of 
Enoch  a  creature  of  the  underworld,  who  still  loved  his 
early  haunts  and  returned  to  them  in  all  their  vileness. 
And  in  all  the  years  of  his  political  life,  no  newspaper 
but  this  had  ever  mentioned  Enoch's  mother.  The  tale 
closed  with  a  comment  on  the  fact  that  Enoch,  who 
shunned  all  women,  had  been  seen  several  times  in  Wash 
ington  giving  marked  attention  to  Miss  Diana  Allen. 
Diana  and  her  \vork  were  fully  identified. 

Enoch  read  the  account  to  the  last  word,  a  flush  of 
agonizing  humiliation  deepening  on  his  face  as  he  did 
so.  When  he  had  finished,  he  doubled  the  paper  care 
fully,  and  laid  it  on  the  chair  next  to  his.  Then  he 
lighted  a  cigarette  and  sat  with  folded  arms,  unseeing 
eyes  on  the  newspaper.  When  Jonas  came  in  an  hour 
later,  the  cigarette,  unsmoked,  was  cold  between  the  Sec 
retary's  lips.  With  trembling  hands,  the  colored  man 
picked  up  the  paper  and  with  unbelievable  venom  gleam 
ing  in  his  black  eyes,  he  carried  it  to  the  rear  door,  spat 
upon  it  and  flung  it  out  into  the  desert  night.  Then  he 
returned  to  Enoch. 

"  Mr.  Secretary,"  he  said  huskily,  "  let  me  take  your 
keys." 

Mechanically  Enoch  obeyed.  Jonas  selected  a  small 
key  from  the  bunch  and,  opening  a  large  leather  portfolio, 
he  took  out  the  black  diary.  This  he  placed  carefully 


A  NEWSPAPER  REPORTER  131 

on  the  folding  table  which  stood  at  Enoch's  elbow.  Then 
he  started  toward  the  door. 

The  Secretary  did  not  look  up.  Nor  did  he  heed  the 
colloquy  which  took  place  at  the  door  between  Jonas 
and  Abbott. 

"  How  is  he,  Jonas?  " 

"  I  ain't  asked  him.     He's  a  sick  man." 

"  God !     Let  me  come  in,  Jonas." 

"  No,  sir,  you  ain't !  How  come  you  think  you  kin 
talk  to  him  when  even  I  don't  dast  to  ?  " 

"  But  he  mustn't  be  alone,  Jonas." 

"  He  ain't  alone.  I  left  him  with  his  Bible.  Ain't 
nobody  going  to  trouble  him  this  night." 

"  I  didn't  know  he  read  the  Bible  that  way."  Ab 
bott's  voice  was  doubtful. 

"  I  don't  mean  the  regular  Lord's  Bible.  It's  a  book 
he's  been  writing  for  years  and  he  always  turns  to  it 
when  he's  in  trouble.  I  don't  know  nothing  about  it. 
What  he  don't  want  me  to  know,  I  don't  know,"  and 
Jonas  slammed  the  door  behind  him. 

It  was  late  when  Enoch  suddenly  straightened  himself 
up  and,  with  an  air  of  resolution,  opened  the  black  book. 
He  uncapped  his  fountain  pen  and  wrote : 

"  Diana,  how  could  I  know,  how  could  I  dream  that 
such  a  thing  could  happen  to  you,  through  me!  You 
must  never  come  back  to  Washington.  Perhaps  they  will 
forget.  As  for  myself,  I  can't  seem  to  think  clearly  just 
what  I  must  do.  I  am  so  very  tired.  One  thing  is  cer 
tain,  you  never  must  see  me  again.  For  one  wild  mo 
ment  the  desire  to  return  to  the  Canyon,  now  I  am  in 
its  neighborhood  overwhelmed  me.  I  decided  to  go  up 
there  and  see  if  I  could  find  the  peace  that  I  found  in 
my  boyhood.  Then  I  realized  that  you  were  at  home, 
that  all  the  world  would  see  me  go  down  Bright  Angel, 
and  I  gave  up  the  idea.  But  somehow,  I  must  find  rest, 
before  I  return  to  Washington.  Oh,  Diana,  Diana!  " 

It  was  midnight  when  Enoch  finally  lay  down  in  his 


132          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

berth.  To  Jonas'  delight,  he  fell  asleep  almost  imme 
diately,  and  the  faithful  steward,  after  reporting  to  the 
anxious  group  on  the  platform,  was  soon  asleep  himself. 
But  it  was  not  one  o'clock  when  the  Secretary  awoke. 
The  train  was  rumbling  slowly,  and  he  looked  from  the 
window.  Only  the  moonlit  flats  of  the  desert  were  to  be 
seen.  Enoch  rose  with  sudden  energy  and  dressed  him 
self.  He  chucked  his  toilet  case,  with  his  diary  and  a 
change  of  underwear,  into  a  satchel,  and  scrawled  a  note 
to  Abbott : 

"  Dear  Charley :  I'm  slipping  off  into  the  desert  for 
a  little  rest.  You'll  hear  from  me  when  I  feel  better. 
Give  out  that  I'm  sick  —  I  am  —  and  cancel  the  few 
speaking  engagements  left.  Tell  Jonas  he  is  not  to 
worry.  Yours,  E.  H." 

He  sealed  this  note,  then  he  pulled  on  a  soft  hat  and, 
as  the  train  stopped  at  a  water  tank,  he  slipped  off  the 
platform  and  stood  in  the  shadow  of  an  old  shed.  It 
seemed  to  him  a  long  time  before  the  engine,  with  vio 
lent  puffing  and  jolting,  started  the  long  train  on  again. 
But  finally  the  tail  lights  disappeared  in  the  distance  and 
Enoch  was  alone  in  the  desert.  For  a  few  moments  he 
stood  beside  the  track,  drawing  in  deep  breaths  of  the 
warm  night  air.  Then  he  started  slowly  westward  along 
the  railway  tracks.  He  had  noted  a  cluster  of  adobe 
houses  a  mile  or  so  back,  and  toward  these  he  was  headed. 
In  spite  of  the  agony  of  the  blow  he  had  sustained  Enoch, 
gazing  from  the  silver  flood  of  the  desert,  to  the  silver 
arch  of  the  heavens,  was  conscious  of  a  thrill  of  excite 
ment  and  not  unpleasant  anticipation.  Somewhere,  some 
how,  in  the  desert,  he  would  find  peace  and  sufficient 
spiritual  strength  to  sustain  him  when  once  more  he 
faced  Washington  and  the  world. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  DESERT 

"If  I  had  a  son,  I  would  teach  him  obedience  as 
heaven's  first  law,  for  so  only  can  a  man  be  trained  to 
obey  his  own  better  self." 

—  Enoch's  Diary. 

THE  Secretary  had  no  intention  of  waking  the  strange 
little  village  at  night.  He  thought  that,  once  he 
had  relocated  it,  he  would  wait  until  dawn  before  rous 
ing  any  one.  But  he  had  not  counted  on  the  village  dogs. 
These  set  up  such  an  outcry  that,  while  Enoch  leaned 
quietly  against  a  rude  corral  fence  waiting  for  the  hulla- 
balloo  to  cease,  the  door  of  the  house  nearest  opened,  and 
a  man  came  out.  He  stood  for  a  moment  very  deliber 
ately  staring  at  the  Secretary,  whose  polite  "  Good  morn 
ing  "  could  not  be  heard  above  the  dogs'  uproar. 

Enoch,  with  a  half  grin,  dropped  his  satchel  and  held 
up  both  hands.  The  man,  half  smiling  in  response, 
kicked  and  cursed  the  dogs  into  silence.  Then  he  ap 
proached  Enoch.  He  was  a  small,  swarthy  chap,  clad  in 
overalls  and  an  undershirt. 

"  You're  a  Pueblo  Indian?  "  asked  the  Secretary. 

The  Indian  nodded.     "  What  you  want?  " 

"  I  want  to  buy  a  horse." 

"  Where  you  come  from  ?  " 

"  Off  that  train  that  went  through  a  while  ago." 

"  This  not  Ash  Fork,"  said  the  Indian.  "  You  make 
mistake.  Ash  Fork  that  way,"  jerking  his  thumb  west 
ward.  "  You  pass  through  Ash  Fork." 

Enoch  nodded.     "  You  sell  me  a  horse?  " 

"  I  rent  you  horse.  You  leave  him  at  Hillers'  in  Ash 
Fork.  I  get  him." 

"  No,  I  want  to  buy  a  horse.  Now  I'm  in  the  desert 

J3S 


136         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

I  guess  I'll  see  a  little  of  it.     Maybe  I'll  ride  up  that  way," 
waviiig  a  careless  arm  toward  the  north.     "  Maybe  you'll 
sell  me  some  camping  things,  blankets  and  a  coffee  pot." 
"  All  right,"  said  the  Indian.     "  When  you  want  'em?  " 
"  Now,  if  I  can  get  them." 
"All  right!     I  fix  'em." 

He  spoke  to  one  of  the  other  Indians  who  were  stick 
ing  curious  heads  out  of  black  doorways.  In  an  incred 
ibly  short  time  Enoch  was  the  possessor  of  a  thin,  mus 
cular  pony,  well  saddled,  two  blankets,  one  an  Army,  the 
other  a  Navajo,  a  frying  pan,  a  coffee  pot,  a  canteen  and 
enough  flour,  bacon  and  coffee  to  see  him  through  the 
day.  He  also  achieved  possession  of  a  blue  flannel  shirt 
and  a  pair  of  overalls.  He  paid  without  question  the 
price  asked  by  the  Indians.  Dawn  was  just  breaking 
when  he  mounted  his  horse. 

"Where  does  that  trail  lead?"  he  asked,  pointing  to 
one  that  started  north  from  the  corral. 

"  To  Eagle  Springs,  five  miles,"  answered  the  Indian. 
"And  after  that?" 

"  East  to  Allman's  ranch,  north  to  Navajo  camp." 
"  Thanks,"  said  Enoch.     "  Good-by !  "  and  he  turned 
his  pony  to  the  trail. 

The  country  became  rough  and  broken  almost  at  once. 
The  trail  led  up  and  down  through  draws  and  arroyos. 
There  was  little  verdure  save  cactus  and,  when  the  sun 
was  fully  up,  Enoch  began  to  realize  that  a  strenuous 
day  was  before  him.  The  spring  boasted  a  pepper  tree, 
a  lovely  thing  of  delicate  foliage,  gazing  at  itself  in  the 
mirrored  blue  of  the  spring.  Enoch  allowed  the  horse 
to  drink  its  fill,  then  he  unrolled  the  blankets  and  cloth 
ing  and  dropped  them  into  the  water  below  the  little  falls 
that  gushed  over  the  rocks,  anchoring  them  with  stones. 
After  this,  awkwardly,  but  recalling  more  and  more 
clearly  his  camping  lore,  he  prepared  a  crude  breakfast. 
He  sat  long  at  this  meal.  His  head  felt  a  little  light 
from  the  lack  of  sleep  and  he  was  physically  weary.  But 
he  could  not  rest.  For  days  a  jingling  couplet  had  been 
running  through  his  mind: 


THE  DESERT  137 

"Rest  is  not  quitting  this  busy  career. 
Rest  is  the  fitting  of  self  to  one's  sphere." 

Enoch  muttered  this  aloud,  then  smiled  grimly  to  him 
self. 

"  That's  the  idea !  "  he  added.  "  There's  a  bad  spot 
somewhere  in  my  philosophy  that'll  break  me  yet.  Well, 
we'll  see  if  I  can  locate  it." 

The  sun  was  climbing  high  and  the  shade  of  the  pep 
per  tree  was  grateful.  The  spring  murmured  for  a  few 
feet  beyond  the  last  quivering  shadow  of  the  feathery 
leaves,  then  was  swallowed  abruptly  by  the  burning  sand. 
Enoch  lifted  his  tired  eyes.  Far  on  every  side  lay  the 
uneven,  rock  strewn  desert  floor,  dotted  with  cactus  and 
grease  wood.  To  the  east,  vivid  against  the  blue  sky, 
rose  a  solitary  mountain  peak,  a  true  purple  in  color,, 
capped  with  snow.  To  the  riorth,  a  green  black  shadow 
was  etched  against  the  horizon.  Except  for  the  slight 
rustle  of  the  pepper  tree,  the  vague  murmur  of  the  wa 
ter,  the  silence  was  complete. 

"  It's  not  a  calming  atmosphere,"  thought  Enoch,  "  as 
I  remember  the  Canyon  to  have  been.  It's  feverish  and 
restless.  But  I'll  give  it  a  try.  For  to-day,  I'll  not  think. 
I'll  concern  myself  entirely  with  getting  to  this  Navajo 
camp.  First  of  all,  I'll  dry  the  blankets  and  clothing." 

He  had  pulled  off  his  tweed  coat  some  time  before. 
Now  he  hung  his  vest  on  the  pepper  tree  and  went  about 
his  laundry  work.  He  draped  blankets  and  garments 
over  the  grease  wood,  then  moved  by  a  sudden  impulse, 
undressed  himself  and  lay  down  under  the  tiny  falls.  The 
water,  warmed  by  its  languid  trip  through  the  pool  above, 
was  refreshing  only  in  its  cleansing  quality.  But  Enoch, 
lying  at  length  in  the  sand,  the  water  trickling  ceaselessly 
over  him,  felt  his  taut  muscles  relax  and  a  great  desire 
to  sleep  came  upon  him.  But  he  was  still  too  close  to 
the  railroad  and  possible  discovery  to  allow  himself  this 
luxury.  By  the  time  he  had  finished  his  bath  the  overalls 
were  dry  and  the  blue  flannel  shirt  enough  so  for  him  to 
risk  donning  it.  He  rolled  up  his  tweed  suit  and  tied 
it  to  the  saddle,  fastened  the  blankets  on  in  an  awkward 


138         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

bunch,  the  cooking  utensils  dangling  anywhere,  the  can 
teen  suspended  from  the  pommel  Then  he  smiled  at  his 
reflection  in  the  morning  pool. 

The  overalls,  a  faded  brown,  were  patched  and,  of 
course,  wrinkled  and  drawn.  The  blue  shirt  was  too 
small  across  the  chest  and  Enoch  found  it  impossible  to 
button  the  collar.  The  soft  hat  was  in  keeping  with 
costume,  but  the  Oxford  ties  caused  him  to  shake  his 
head. 

"  A  dead  give-away !  I'll  have  to  negotiate  for  some 
thing  else  when  I  find  the  Navajos.  All  right,  Pablo," 
to  the  horse,  "  we're  off,"  and  the  pony  started  north 
ward  at  a  gentle  canter. 

The  desert  was  new  to  Enoch.  Neither  his  Grand 
Canyon  experience  nor  his  hunting  trips  in  Canada  and 
Maine  had  prepared  him  for  the  hardships  and  privations 
of  desert  travel.  Sitting  at  ease  on  the  Indian  pony,  his 
hat  well  over  his  eyes,  his  pots  and  pans  clanging  gently 
behind  him,  he  was  entirely  oblivious  to  the  menace  that 
lay  behind  the  intriguing  beauty  of  the  burning  horizon. 
He  was  giving  small  heed,  too,  to  the  details  of  the  land 
scape  about  him.  He  was  conscious  of  the  heat  and  of 
color,  color  that  glowed  and  quivered  and  was  ever  chang 
ing,  and  he  told  himself  that  when  he  was  rested  he  would 
find  the  beauty  in  the  desert  that  Diana's  pictures  had 
said  was  there.  But  for  now,  he  was  conscious  only  of 
pain  and  shame,  the  old,  old  shame  that  the  Canyon  had 
tried  to  teach  him  to  forget  He  was  determined  that 
he  would  stay  in  the  desert  until  this  shame  was  gone 
forever. 

It  was  a  fall  and  not  a  summer  sun,  so  the  pony  was 
able  to  keep  a  steady  pace  until  noon.  Gradually  the 
blur  of  green  that  Enoch  had  observed  to  the  north  had 
outlined  itself  more  and  more  vividly,  and  at  noon  he 
rode  into  the  shade  of  a  little  grove  of  stunted  pinon  and 
juniper.  He  could  find  no  water  but  there  was  a  coarse 
dried  grass  growing  among  the  trees  that  the  horse 
cropped  eagerly.  Enoch  removed  the  saddle  and  pack 
from  Pablo,  and  spread  his  half  dried  blankets  on  the 


THE  DESERT  139 

ground.  Then  he  threw  himself  down  to  rest  before 
preparing  his  midday  meal.  In  a  moment  slumber  over 
whelmed  him. 

He  was  wakened  at  dusk  by  the  soft  nuzzling  of  the 
pony  against  his  shoulder. 

"  By  Jove!  "  he  exclaimed  softly.  "  What  a  sleep!  " 
He  jumped  to  his  feet  and  began  to  gather  wood  for  his 
fire.  He  was  stiff  and  his  unaccustomed  fingers  made 
awkward  work  of  cooking,  but  he  managed,  after  an 
hour's  endeavor,  to  produce  an  unsavory  meal,  which  he 
devoured  hungrily.  He  wiped  out  the  frying  pan  with 
dried  grass,  repacked  his  outfit,  and  hung  it  on  the  horse. 

"  It's  up  to  you,  Pablo,  old  boy,  to  get  us  to  water,  if 
you  want  any  to-night,"  he  said,  as  he  mounted,  and 
headed  Pablo  north  on  the  trail. 

The  pony  was  quite  of  Enoch's  opinion,  and  he  started 
forward  at  an  eager  trot.  The  trail  was  discernible 
enough  in  the  starlight,  but  Enoch  made  no  attempt  to 
guide  Pablo,  who  obviously  knew  the  country  better  than 
his  new  owner. 

Enoch  had  dreamed  of  Diana,  and  now,  the  reins  droop 
ing  limply  from  his  hands,  he  gave  his  mind  over  to 
thought  of  her.  There  was  no  one  on  earth  whom  he 
desired  to  see  so  much  or  so  little  as  Diana !  No  one 
else  to  whom  in  his  trouble  his  whole  heart  and  mind 
turned  with  such  unutterable  longing  or  such  iron  de 
termination  never  to  see  again.  He  had  no  intention  of 
searching  for  her  in  the  desert.  He  knew  that  her  work 
would  keep  her  in  the  Grand  Canyon  country.  He  knew 
that  it  would  be  easy  to  avoid  her.  And,  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  every  fiber  of  his  being  yearned  for  her,  he  had 
not  the  slightest  desire  to  see  her !  She  would,  he  knew, 
see  the  Brown  story.  No  matter  what  her  father  may  have 
told  her,  the  newspaper  story,  with  its  vile  innuendoes 
concerning  his  adult  life,  must  sicken  her.  There  was 
one  peak  of  shame  which  Enoch  refused  to  achieve.  He 
would  not  submit  himself  either  to  Diana's  pity  or  to  her 
scorn.  But  there  was,  he  was  finding,  a  peculiar  solace 
in  merely  traveling  in  Diana's  desert.  He  had  complete 


THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

faith  that  here  he  would  find  something  of  the  sweet 
philosophy  that  had  written  itself  in  Diana's  face. 

For  Enoch  had  not  come  to  middle  life  without  learn 
ing  that  on  a  man's  philosophy  rests  his  ultimate  chance 
for  happiness,  or  if  not  for  happiness,  content.  He  knew 
that  until  he  had  sorted  and  separated  from  each  other 
the  things  that  mattered  and  the  things  that  did  not  mat 
ter,  he  must  be  the  restless  plaything  of  circumstance. 
In  his  younger  days  he  had  been  able  to  persuade  him 
self  that  if  his  point  of  view  on  his  life  work  were  right 
and  sane,  nothing  else  could  hurt  him  too  much.  But 
now,  easing  himself  to  the  pony's  gentle  trot  and  staring 
into  the  exquisite  blue  silence  of  the  desert  night,  he 
told  himself  that  he  had  been  a  coward,  and  that  his 
cowardice  had  made  him  shun  the  only  real  experience  of 
life. 

Public  service?  Yes,  it  had  been  right  for  him  to 
make  that  his  life  work.  And  such  service  from  such 
men  as  himself  he  knew  to  be  the  only  vital  necessity  in 
a  nation's  life.  But  the  one  vital  necessity  in  a  man's 
spiritual  life  he  had  missed.  If  he  had  had  this,  he  told 
himself,  life's  bludgeons,  however  searching,  however 
devastating,  he  could  have  laughed  at.  A  man  must  have 
the  thought  of  some  good  woman's  love  to  sustain  him. 
But  for  Enoch,  the  thought  of  any  woman's  love,  Luigi 
had  tainted  at  its  source.  He  had  neither  mother  nor 
mate,  and  until  he  had  evolved  some  philosophy  which 
would  reconcile  him  to  doing  without  both,  his  days  must 
be  feverish  and  at  the  mercy  of  the  mob. 

Pablo  broke  into  a  canter  and  Enoch  roused  himself 
to  observe  a  glow  of  fire  far  ahead  on  the  trail.  His 
first  impulse  was  to  pull  the  horse  in.  He  did  not  want 
either  to  be  identified  or  to  mingle  with  human  beings. 
Then  he  smiled  ruefully  as  he  recalled  the  poverty  of  his 
outfit  and  he  gave  Pablo  his  way  again.  In  a  short  time 
Pablo  had  reached  a  spring  at  a  little  distance  from  the 
fire.  As  the  horse  buried  his  nose  in  the  water,  a  man 
came  up.  Enoch  judged  by  the  long  hair  that  he  was 
an  Indian. 


THE  DESERT  141 

"  Good  evening,"  said  Enoch.  "  Can  you  tell  me  where 
I  can  buy  some  food?  " 

"  What  kind  of  grub?  "  asked  the  Indian. 

"  Anything  I  can  cook  and  eat,"  replied  Enoch,  dis 
mounting  stiffly.  "  What  kind  of  camp  is  this?  " 

"  Navajo.     What  your  name?  " 

"Smith.     What's  yours?" 

"  John  Red  Sun.     How  much  you  pay  for  grub?  " 

"  Depends  on  what  kind  and  how  much.  Which  way 
are  you  folks  going?  " 

"  Wre  take  horses  to  the  railroad,"  replied  John  Red 
Sun.  "  Me  and  my  brother,  that's  all,  so  we  haven't  got 
much  grub.  You  come  over  by  the  fire."  Enoch 
dropped  the  reins  over  Pablo's  head  and  followed  to  the 
fire.  An  Indian,  who  was  boiling  coffee  at  the  little 
blaze,  looked  up  with  interest  in  his  black  eyes. 

"  Good  evening,"  said  Enoch.     "  My  name  is  Smith." 

The  Indian  nodded.  "  You  like  a  cup  of  coffee?  Just 
done." 

"  Thanks,  yes."  Enoch  sat  down  gratefully  by  the 
fire.  The  desert  night  was  sharp. 

"Where  you  going,  Mr.  Smith?"  asked  John  Red 
Sun. 

"  I'm  an  Easterner,  a  tenderfoot,"  replied  Enoch.  "  I 
am  very  tired  and  I  thought  I'd  like  to  rest  in  the  desert. 
I  was  on  the  train  when  the  idea  struck  me,  and  I  got  off 
just  as  I  was.  I  bought  the  horse  and  these  clothes  from 
an  Indian." 

"  Where  you  going?  "  repeated  John's  brother.  "  To 
see  Injun  villages?" 

"  No,  I  don't  think  so.     I  just  want  to  be  by  myself." 

"  It's  foolish  for  tenderfoot  to  go  alone  in  desert,"  said 
John.  "  You  don't  know  where  to  get  water,  get  grub." 

"  Oh,  I'll  pick  it  up  as  I  go." 

The  Indians  stared  at  Enoch  in  the  firelight.  His 
ruddy  hair  was  tumbled  by  the  night  wind.  His  face  was 
deep  lined  with  fatigue  that  was  mental  as  well  as  phys 
ical. 

"  You  mustn't  go  alone  in  desert."     John  Red  Sun's 


142          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

voice  was  earnest.  "  You  sleep  here  to-night.  We'll 
talk  it  over." 

"  You're  very  kind,"  said  Enoch.  "  I'll  unsaddle  my 
pony.  Ought  I  to  hobble  him  or  stake  him  out  ?  " 

"  I  fix  'im.  You  drink  your  coffee."  The  brother 
handed  Enoch  a  tin  cup  as  he  spoke.  "  Then  you  go  to 
sleep.  You  mucho  tired." 

Their  hospitality  touched  Enoch.  "  You're  very  kind," 
he  repeated  gratefully,  and  he  drank  the  vile  coffee  with 
out  blinking.  Then,  conscious  that  he  was  trembling 
with  weariness,  he  rolled  himself  in  his  blankets.  But 
he  slept  only  fitfully.  The  sand  was  hard,  and  his  long 
afternoon's  nap  had  taken  the  edge  from  his  appetite  for 
sleep.  He  spent  much  of  the  night  wondering  what 
Washington,  what  the  President  was  saying  about  him. 
And  his  sunburned  face  was  new  dyed  with  his  burning 
sense  of  shame. 

At  the  first  peep  of  dawn,  John  Red  Sun  rose  from  the 
other  side  of  the  fire,  raked  the  ashes  and  started  a  blaze 
going.  Enoch  discovered  that  the  camp  lay  at  the  foot 
of  a  mesa,  close  in  whose  shadow  a  small  herd  of  scrag- 
gly,  unkempt  ponies  was  staked.  The  two  Indians  moved 
about  deftly.  They  watered  the  horses,  made  coffee  and 
cakes  and  fried  bacon.  By  the  time  Enoch  had  shaved, 
a  pie  tin  was  waiting  for  him  in  the  ashes. 

"  We  sell  you  two  days'  grub,"  said  John.  "  One  day 
north  on  this  trail  go  two  men  up  to  the  Canyon,  to 
placer  mine.  They're  good  men.  I  know  'em  many 
years.  They  got  good  outfit,  but  burros  go  slow,  so  you 
can  easy  overtake  'em  to-day.  You  tell  'im  you  want  a 
job.  Tell  'im  John  Red  Sun  send  you.  Then  you  get 
rested  in  the  desert.  Not  good  for  any  white  man  to 
go  alone  and  do  nothing  in  the  desert.  He'll  go  loco. 
See?" 

Enoch  suddenly  smiled.  "  I  do  see,  yes.  And  I  must 
say  you're  mighty  kind  and  sensible.  I'll  do  as  you  sug 
gest.  By  the  way,  will  you  sell  me  those  boots  of  yours? 
I'll  swap  you  mine  and  anything  you  say,  beside.  I  be 
lieve  our  feet  are  the  same  size." 


THE  DESERT  143 

Red  Sun's  brother  was  wearing  Navajo  moccasins 
reaching  to  the  knee,  but  Red  Sun  was  resplendent  in  a 
pair  of  high  laced  boots,  into  which  were  tucked  his  cor 
duroy  pants.  The  Indians  both  looked  at  Enoch's  smart 
Oxford  ties  with  eagerness.  Then  without  a  word,  Red 
Sun  began  rapidly  to  unlace  his  boots.  It  would  be  diffi 
cult  to  say  which  made  the  exchange  with  the  greater 
satisfaction,  Enoch  or  the  Indian.  When  it  was  done 
Enoch,  as  far  as  his  costume  was  concerned,  might  have 
been  a  desert  miner  indeed,  looking  for  a  job. 

The  sun  was  not  over  an  hour  high  when  Pablo  and 
Enoch  started  north  once  more,  the  little  horse  loaded 
with  supplies  and  Enoch  loaded  with  such  trail  lore  as 
the  two  Indians  could  impress  upon  him  in  the  short  time 
at  their  command.  Enoch  was  not  deeply  impressed  by 
their  advice  except  as  to  one  point,  which  they  repeated 
so  often  that  it  really  penetrated  his  distraught  and  weary 
mind.  He  was  to  keep  to  the  trail.  No  matter  what  or 
whom  he  thought  he  saw  in  the  distance,  he  was  to  keep 
to  the  trail.  If  a  sand  storm  struck  him,  he  was  to  camp 
immediately  and  on  the  trail.  If  he  needed  water,  he 
was  to  keep  to  the  trail  in  order  to  find  it.  At  night,  he 
must  camp  on  the  trail.  The  trail!  It  was,  they  made 
him  understand,  a  tenderfoot's  only  chance  of  life  in  this 
section.  And,  thus  equipped,  Enoch  rode  away  into  the 
lonely,  shimmering,  intriguing  morning  light  of  the  des 
ert. 

He  rode  all  the  morning  without  dismounting.  The 
trail  was  very  crooked.  It  seemed  to  him  at  such  mo 
ments  as  he  took  note  of  this  fact,  he  would  save  much 
time  by  riding  due  north,  but  he  could  not  forget  the 
Indian  brothers'  reiterated  warnings.  And,  although  he 
could  not  throw  off  a  sense  of  being  driven,  the  desire  to 
arrive  somewhere  quickly,  still  he  was  strangely  content 
to  let  Pablo  set  the  pace. 

At  noon  he  dismounted,  fed  Pablo  half  the  small  bag 
of  oats  John  had  given  him,  and  ate  the  cold  bacon  and 
biscuits  John's  brother  had  urged  on  him.  There  was 
•no  water  for  the  horse,  but  Enoch  drank  deeply  from  the 


144         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

canteen  and  allowed  Pablo  an  hour's  rest.  Then  he 
mounted  and  pushed  on,  mindful  of  the  necessity  of  over 
taking  the  miners. 

His  mind  was  less  calm  than  it  had  been  the  day  be 
fore,  and  his  thinking  less  orderly.  He  had  begun  to 
be  nagged  by  recollections  of  office  details  that  he  should 
have  settled,  of  important  questions  that  awaited  his  de 
cision.  And  something  deep  within  him  began  to  tell 
him  that  he  was  not  playing  a  full  man's  part  in  running 
away.  But  to  this  he  replied  grimly  that  he  was  only 
seeking  for  strength  to  go  back.  And  finally  he  muttered 
that  give  him  two  weeks'  respite  and  he  would  go  back, 
strength  or  no  strength.  And  over  and  about  all  his 
broken  thinking  played  an  unceasing  sense  of  loss.  The 
public  had  invaded  his  last  privacy.  The  stronghold 
wherein  a  man  rights  his  secret  weakness  should  be  sacred. 
Not  even  a  clergyman  nor  a  wife  should  invade  its  pre 
cincts  uninvited.  Enoch's  inner  sanctuary  had  been  laid 
open  to  the  idle  view  of  all  the  world.  The  newspaper 
reporter  had  pried  where  no  real  man  would  pry.  The 
Brown  papers  had  published  that  from  which  a  decent 
editor  would  turn  away  for  very  compassion.  Only  a 
very  dirty  man  will  with  no  excuse  whatever  wantonly 
and  deliberately  break  another  man. 

When  toward  sundown  Enoch  saw  a  thread  of  smoke 
rising  far  ahead  of  him,  again  his  first  thought  was  to 
stop  and  make  camp.  He  wished  that  it  wrere  possible 
for  him  to  spend  the  next  few  weeks  without  seeing  a 
white  man.  But  he  did  not  yield  to  the  impulse  and 
Pablo  pushed  on  steadily. 

The  camp  was  set  in  the  shelter  of  a  huge  rock  pile, 
purple,  black,  yellow  and  crimson  in  color,  with  a  single 
giant  ocotilla  growing  from  the  top.  A  man  in  overalls 
was  bending  over  the  fire,  while  another  was  bringing  a 
dripping  coffee  pot  from  a  little  spring  that  bubbled  from 
under  the  rocks.  A  number  of  burros  were  grazing 
among  the  cactus  roots. 

Enoch  rode  up  slowly  and  dismounted  stiffly.  "  Good 
evening,"  he  said. 


THE  DESERT  145 

The  two  men  stared  at  him  frankly.  "  Good  evening, 
stranger!  " 

"  John  Red  Sun  told  me  to  ask  you  people  for  work 
in  return  for  permission  to  trail  with  your  outfit." 

"  Oh,  he  did,  did  he !  "  grunted  the  older  man,  eying 
Enoch  intently.  "  My  name  is  Mackay,  and  my  pardner's 
is  Field." 

"  Mine  is  Smith,"  said  Enoch. 

"Just  Smith?"  grinned  the  man  Field. 

"  Just  Smith/'  repeated  Enoch  firmly. 

"  Well,  Mr.  Just  Smith,"  Mackay  nodded  affably,  as 
though  pleased  by  his  appraisal  of  the  newcomer,  "  wipe 
your  feet  on  the  door  mat  and  come  in  and  have  supper 
with  us.  We'll  talk  while  we  eat." 

"  You're  very  kind/'  murmured  Enoch.  "I  —  er  — 
I'm  a  tenderfoot,  so  perhaps  you'd  tell  me,  shall  I  hobble 
this  horse  or  — 

"  I'll  take  care  of  him  for  you,"  said  Field.  "  You 
look  dead  tuckered.  Sit  down  till  supper's  ready." 

Enoch  sat  down  on  a  rock  and  eyed  his  prospective 
bosses.  Mackay  was  a  tall,  thin  man  of  perhaps  fifty. 
He  was  smooth  shaven  except  for  an  iron  gray  mustache. 
His  face  was  thin,  tanned  and  heavily  lined,  and  his  keen 
gray  eyes  were  deep  set  under  huge,  shaggy  eyebrows. 
He  wore  a  gray  flannel  shirt  and  a  pair  of  well  worn 
brown  corduroys,  tucked  into  the  tops  of  a  pair  of  ordi 
nary  shoes.  Field  was  younger,  probably  about  Enoch's 
own  age.  He  was  as  tall  as  Mackey  but  much  heavier. 
He  was  smooth  shaven  and  ruddy  of  skin,  with  a  heavy 
thatch  of  curly  black  hair  and  fine  brown  eyes.  His 
clothing  was  a  replica  of  his  partner's. 

Mackay  gave  his  whole  attention  to  the  preparation  of 
the  supper,  while  Field  unpacked  Pablo  and  hobbled  him. 

"  You're  just  in  time  for  a  darn  good  meal,  Mr.  Smith," 
said  Field.  "  Mack  is  a  great  cook.  If  he  was  as  good 
a  miner  as  he  is  cook  — " 

"  Dry  up,  Curly,  and  get  Mr.  Smith's  cup  and  plate 
for  him.  We're  shy  on  china.  Grub's  ready,  folks. 
.Draw  up." 


146          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

They  ate  sitting  in  the  sand,  with  their  backs  against 
the  rocks,  their  feet  toward  the  fire,  for  the  evening  was- 
cold.  Curly  had  not  exaggerated  Mack's  ability.  The 
hot  biscuits,  baked  in  a  dutch  oven,  the  fried  potatoes, 
stewed  tomatoes,  the  bacon,  the  coffee  were  each  deli- 
ciously  prepared.  Enoch  ate  as  though  half  starved,  then 
helped  to  wash  the  dishes.  After  this  was  finished,  the 
three  established  themselves  with  their  pipes  before  the 
fire. 

"  Now,"  said  Mack,  "  we're  in  a  condition  to  consider 
your  proposition,  Mr.  Smith.  Just  where  was  you  aim 
ing  for?" 

"  I  have  a  two  or  three  weeks'  vacation  on  my  hands," 
replied  Enoch,  "  and  I'm  pretty  well  knocked  up  with 
office  work.  I  wanted  to  rest  in  the  desert.  I  thought 
I  could  manage  it  alone,  but  it  looks  as  if  I  were  too 
green.  I  don't  know  why  John  Red  Sun  thought  I  could 
intrude  on  you  folks,  unless  — "  he  hesitated. 

"  John  an  old  friend  of  yours?  "  asked  Curly. 

"  No,  I  met  him  on  the  trail.  He  was  exceedingly 
kind  and  hospitable." 

Curly  whistled  softly.  "  You  must  have  been  in  bad 
shape.  John's  not  noted  for  kindness,  or  hospitality 
either." 

"  I  wasn't  in  bad  shape  at  all !  "  protested  Enoch.  The 
two  men,  eying  Enoch  steadily,  each  suppressed  a  smile. 

"  Field  and  I  are  on  a  kind  of  vacation  too,"  said  Mack. 
"  I'm  a  superintendent  of  a  zinc  mine,  and  he's  running 
the  mill  for  me.  We  had  to  shut  down  for  three  months 
—  bottom's  dropped  clean  out  of  the  price  of  zinc. 
We've  been  talking  about  prospecting  for  placer  gold  up 
on  the  Colorado,  for  ten  years.  Now  we're  giving  her 
a  try." 

He  paused,  and  both  men  looked  at  Enoch  expectantly. 
"  In  other  words,"  said  Enoch,  refilling  his  pipe,  "  you 
two  fellows  are  off  for  the  kind  of  a  trip  you  don't  want 
an  utter  stranger  in  on.  Well,  I  don't  blame  you." 

"  Depends  altogether  on  what  kind  of  a  chap  the 
stranger  is,"  suggested  Curly. 


THE  DESERT  147 

"  I  have  no  letters  of  recommendation."  Enoch's 
smile  was  grim.  "  I'd  do  my  share  of  the  work,  and 
pay  for  my  board.  I  might  not  be  the  best  of  company, 
for  I'm  tired.  Very  tired." 

His  massive  head  drooped  as  he  spoke  and  his  thin 
fine  lips  betrayed  a  pain  and  weariness  that  even  the  fit 
ful  light  of  the  fire  could  not  conceal.  There  was  a  si 
lence  for  a  moment,  then  a  burro  screamed,  and  Mackay 
got  to  his  feet. 

"  There's  Mamie  burro  making  trouble  again.  Come 
and  help  me  catch  her,  Curly." 

Enoch  sat  quietly  waiting  while  a  low  voiced  colloquy 
that  did  not  seem  related  to  the  obstreperous  Mamie  went 
on  in  the  shadow  beyond  the  rocks.  Then  the  two  men 
came  back. 

"All  right,  Smith,"  said  Mack.  "We're  willing  to 
give  it  a  try.  A  camping  trip's  like  marriage,  you  know, 
terrible  trying  on  the  nerves.  So  if  we  don't  get  on 
together,  it's  understood  you'll  turn  back,  eh?  " 

"  Yes,"  Enoch  nodded. 

"All  right!  We'll  charge  you  a  dollar  and  a  half  a 
day  for  yourself  and  your  horse.  We're  to  share  and 
share  alike  in  the  work." 

"  I'm  exceedingly  grateful!  "  exclaimed  Enoch. 

"  Ail  right !  We  hope  you'll  get  rested,"  said  Curly. 
"  And  I  advise  you  to  begin  now.  Have  you  been  sleep 
ing  well?  How  long  have  you  been  out?  " 

"  Three  nights.     I've  slept  rottenly." 

"  1  thought  so.  Let  me  show  you  how  to  scoop  out 
sand  so's  to  make  a  hollow  for  your  hips  and  your  shoul 
ders,  and  I'll  bet  you'll  sleep." 

And  Enoch  did  sleep  that  night  better  than  for  several 
weeks.  He  was  stiff  and  muscle  sore  when  he  awoke  at 
dawn,  but  he  felt  clearer  headed  and  less  mentally  fever 
ish  than  he  had  the  previous  day.  Curly  and  Mack  were 
still  asleep  when  he  stole  over  to  the  spring  to  wash  and 
shave.  It  was  biting  cold,  but  he  felt  like  a  new  man 
when  he  had  finished  his  toilet  and  stood  drawing  deep 
breaths  while  he  watched  the  dawn  approach  through  the 


148         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

magnificent  desert  distances.  He  gathered  some  grease- 
wood  and  came  back  to  build  the  fire,  but  his  camp  mates 
had  forestalled  him.  While  he  was  at  the  spring  the  men 
had  both  wakened  and  the  fire  was  blazing  merrily. 

Breakfast  was  quickly  prepared  and  eaten.  Enoch  es 
tablished  himself  as  the  camp  dish  washer,  much  to  the 
pleasure  of  Curly,  who  hitherto  had  borne  this  burden. 
After  he  had  cleaned  and  packed  the  dishes,  Enoch  went 
out  for  Pablo,  who  had  strayed  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  his 
search  for  pasturage.  After  a  half  hour  of  futile  en 
deavor  Mack  came  to  his  rescue,  and  in  a  short  time  the 
cavalcade  was  ready  to  start. 

They  were  not  an  unimposing  outfit.  Mack  led.  The 
half  dozen  burros,  with  their  packs  followed,  next  came 
Curly,  and  Enoch  brought  up  the  rear.  There  was  little 
talking  on  the  trail.  The  single  file,  the  heavy  dust,  and 
the  heat  made  conversation  too  great  an  effort.  And 
Enoch  was  grateful  that  this  was  so. 

To-day  he  made  a  tremendous  endeavor  to  keep  his 
mind  off  Luigi  and  the  Brown  papers.  He  found  he 
could  do  this  by  thinking  of  Diana.  And  so  he  spent 
the  day  with  her,  and  resolved  that  if  opportunity  arose 
that  night,  to  write  to  her,  in  the  black  diary. 

The  trail,  which  gradually  ascended  as  they  drew  north, 
grew  rougher  and  rougher.  During  the  latter  part  of 
the  day  sand  gave  way  to  rock,  and  the  desert  appeared 
full  of  pot  holes  which  Mack  claimed  led  to  subterranean 
rivers. 

They  left  these  behind  near  sunset,  and  came  upon 
a  huge,  rude,  cave-like  opening  in  a  mesa  side.  A  tiny 
pool  at  the  back  and  the  evidence  of  many  camp  fires 
in  the  front  announced  that  this  was  one  of  the  trail's 
established  oases.  There  was  no  possible  grazing  for 
the  animals,  so  they  were  watered,  staked,  and  fed  oats 
from  the  packs. 

"  Well,  Mr.  Just  Smith,"  said  Curly,  after  the  supper 
had  been  dispatched  and  cleared  up  and  the  trio  were  es 
tablished  around  the  fire,  pipes  glowing,  "  well,  Mr. 
Just  Smith,  are  you  getting  rested?  "  He  grinned  as  he 


THE  DESERT  149 

spoke,  but  Mack  watched  their  guest  soberly.     Enoch's 
great  head  seemed  to  fascinate  him. 

"  I'm  feeling  better,  thanks.  And  I'm  trying  hard  to 
behave." 

"  You're  doing  very  well,"  returned  Curly.  "  I  can't 
recommend  you  yet  as  a  horse  wrangler,  but  if  I  permit 
you  to  bring  Mamie  in  every  morning,  perhaps  you'll 
sabez  better." 

'  This  is  sure  one  devil  of  a  country,"  said  Mack, 
"  The  Spanish  called  it  the  death  trail.  Wow !  What  it 
must  have  been  before  they  opened  up  these  springs! 
Even  the  Indians  couldn't  live  here." 

"  I'd  like  to  show  it  to  old  Parsons,"  said  Curly.  "  He 
claims  there  ain't  a  spot  in  Arizona  that  couldn't  grow 
crops  if  you  coulcl  get  watet-  to  it.  He's  a  fine  old  liar! 
Why,  this  country  don't  even  grow  cactus!  I'd  like  to 
hobble  him  out  here  for  a  week." 

'  Those  Survey  fellows  were  up  here  a  few  years  back 
trying  to  fix  it  to  get  water  out  of  those  pot  holes,"  said 
Mack. 

"  Nuts!  Sounds  like  a  government  bunch!  "  grunted 
Curly. 

"  What  came  of  it?  "  asked  Enoch. 

"  It  ended  in  a  funny  kind  of  a  row,"  replied  Mack. 
"  Some  folks  think  there's  oil  up  here,  and  there  was  a 
bunch  here  drilling  for  wells,  when  the  government  men 
came  along.  They  got  interested  in  the  oil  idea,  and  they 
began  to  study  the  country  and  drill  for  oil  too.  And 
that  made  these  other  chaps  mad.  This  was  government 
land,  of  course,  but  they  didn't  want  the  government  to 
get  interested  in  developing  oil  wells.  Government  oil 
would  be  too  cheap.  So  they  got  some  Mexicans  to  start 
a  fight  with  these  Survey  lads.  But  the  Survey  boys 
turned  out  to  be  well  armed  and  good  fighters  and,  by 
Jove,  they  drove  the  whole  bunch  of  oil  prospectors  out 
of  here.  Everybody  got  excited,  and  then  it  turned  out 
there  was  no  oil  here  anyhow.  That  was  Fowler's  bunch, 
by  the  way,  that  got  run  out.  Nobody  ever  thought  he'd 
be  Secretary  of  State!  " 


150          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  But  Fowler  is  not  an  Arizona  man ! "  exclaimed 
Enoch. 

"  No,"  said  Curly,  "  but  he  came  out  here  for  his  health 
for  a  few  years  when  he  was  just  out  of  college.  He 
and  my  oldest  brother  were  law  pardners  in  Phoenix.  I 
always  thought  he  was  crooked.  All  lawyers  are." 

Enoch  smiled  to  himself. 

"  Fowler  sent  his  prospectors  into  Mexico  after  that," 
Mack  went  on  reminiscently.  "  Curly  and  I  were  in 
charge  of  the  silver  mine  near  Rio  Chacita  where  they 
struck  some  gushers.  They  were  one  tough  crowd.  We 
all  slept  in  tents  those  days,  and  I  remember  none  of  us 
dared  to  light  a  lamp  or  candle  because  if  one  of  those 
fellows  saw  it,  they'd  take  a  pot  shot  at  it.  One  of  my 
foremen  dug  a  six-foot  pit  and  set  his  tent  over  it.  Then 
he  let  'em  shoot  at  will.  Those  were  the  days !  " 

"  Government  ought  to  keep  out  of  business,"  said 
Curly.  "  Let  the  States  manage  their  own  affairs." 

"  What's  Field  sore  about?  "  asked  Enoch  of  Mack. 

"  He's  just  ignorant,"  answered  Mack  calmly.  "  Hand 
me  some  tobacco,  Curly,  and  quit  your  beefing.  When 
you  make  your  fortune  washing  gold  up  in  the  Colorado, 
you  can  get  yourself  elected  to  Congress  and  do  Fowler 
up.  In  the  meantime  — " 

"  Aw,  shut  up,  Mack,"  drawled  Curly  good-naturedly. 
"  What  are  you  trying  to  do,  ruin  my  reputation  with 
Just  Smith  here?  By  the  way,  Just,  you  haven't  told 
us  what  your  work  is." 

"  I'm  a  lawyer,"  said  Enoch  solemnly. 

The  three  men  stared  at  each  other  in  the  fire  glow. 
Suddenly  Enoch  burst  into  a  hearty  laugh,  in  which  the 
others  joined. 

"  What  was  the  queerest  thing  you've  ever  seen  in  the 
desert,  Mack?"  asked  Enoch,  when  they  had  sobered 
down. 

Mack  sat  in  silence  for  a  time.  "  That's  hard  to 
judge,"  he  said  finally.  "  Once,  in  the  Death  Valley  coun 
try,  I  saw  a  blind  priest  riding  a  burro  fifty  miles  from 
anywhere.  He  had  no  pack,  just  a  canteen.  He  said 


THE  DESERT  151 

he  was  doing  a  penance  and  if  I  tried  to  help  him,  he'd 
curse  me.  So  I  went  off  and  left  him.  And  once  I  saw 
a  fat  woman  in  a  kimono  and  white  satin  high  heeled 
slippers  chasing  her  horse  over  the  trackless  desert. 
Lord!" 

"  Was  that  any  queerer  sight  than  Just  Smith  chasing 
Pablo  this  morning?  "  demanded  Curly. 

"  Or  than  Field  tying  a  stone  to  Mamie's  tail  to  keep 
her  from  braying  to-night  ?  "  asked  Enoch. 

"  You're  improving !  "  exclaimed  Curly.  "  Dignity's 
an  awful  thing  to  take  into  the  desert  for  a  vacation." 

"  Let's  go  to  bed,"  suggested  Mack,  and  in  the  fewest 
possible  minutes  the  camp  was  at  rest. 

The  trail  for  the  next  two  days  grew  rougher  and 
rougher,  while  the  brilliancy  of  color  in  rock  and  sand 
increased  in  the  same  ratio  as  the  aridity.  Enoch,  pound 
ing  along  at  the  rear  of  the  parade,  hour  after  hour,  was 
still  in  too  anguished  and  abstracted  a  frame  of  mind  to 
heed  details.  He  knew  only  that  the  vast  loveliness  and 
the  naked  austerity  of  the  desert  were  fit  backgrounds, 
the  first  for  this  thought  of  Diana,  the  second  for  his 
bitter  retrospects. 

Mid-morning  on  the  third  day,  after  several  hours  of 
silent  trekking,  Curly  turned  in  his  saddle : 

"  Just,  have  you  noticed  the  mirage  ?  "  pointing  to  the 
right. 

Far  to  the  east  where  the  desert  was  most  nearly  level 
appeared  the  sea,  waters  of  brilliant  cobalt  blue  lapping 
shores  clad  in  richest  verdure,  waves  that  broke  in  foam 
and  ran  softly  up  on  quiet  shores.  Upon  the  sea,  silhou 
etted  against  the  turquoise  sky  were  ships  with  sails  of 
white,  of  crimson,  of  gold.  Then,  as  the  men  stared  with 
parted  lips,  the  picture  dimmed  and  the  pitiless,  burning 
desert  shimmered  through. 

The  unexpected  vision  lifted  Enoch  out  of  himself  for 
a  little  while  and  he  listened,  interested  and  amused,  while 
Curly,  half  turned  in  his  saddle,  discanted  on  mirages  and 
their  interpretations.  Nor  did  Enoch  for  several  hours 
after  meditate  on  his  troubles.  Not  an  hour  after  the 


152         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

mirage  had  disappeared  the  sky  darkened  almost  to  black, 
then  turned  a  sullen  red.  Lightning  forked  across  the 
zenith  and  the  thunder  reverberated  among  the  thousand 
mesas,  the  entangled  gorges,  until  it  seemed  almost  im 
possible  to  endure  the  uproar.  Rain  did  not  begin  to  fall 
until  noon.  There  was  not  a  place  in  sight  that  would 
provide  shelter,  so  the  men  wrapped  their  Navajos  about 
them  and  forced  the  reluctant  animals  to  continue  the 
journey.  The  storm  held  with  fury  until  late  in  the 
afternoon.  The  wind,  the  lightning  and  the  rain  vied 
with  one  another  in  punishing  the  travelers.  Again  and 
again,  the  burros  broke  from  trail. 

"  Get  busy,  Just!  "  Curly  would  roar.  "  Come  out  of 
your  trance!''  and  Enoch  would  ride  Pablo  after  the 
impish  Mamie  with  a  skill  that  developed  remarkably  as 
the  afternoon  wore  on.  Enoch  could  not  recall  ever  hav 
ing  been  so  wretchedly  uncomfortable  in  his  life.  He 
was  sodden  to  the  skin,  aching  with  weariness,  shivering 
with  cold.  But  he  made  no  murmur  of  protest.  It  was 
Curly  who,  about  five  o'clock,  called : 

"  Hey,  Mack !     I've  gone  my  limit !  " 

Mack  pulled  up  and  seemed  to  hesitate.  As  he  did  so, 
the  storm,  with  a  suddenness  that  was  unbelievable, 
stopped.  A  last  flare  of  lightning  seemed  to  blast  the 
clouds  from  the  sky.  The  rain  ceased  and  the  sun  en 
veloped  mesas,  gorges,  trail  in  a  hundred  rainbows. 

"  How  about  a  fire?  "  asked  Mack,  grinning,  with  chat 
tering  teeth. 

"  It  must  be  done  somehow,"  replied  Curly.  "  Come 
on,  Just,  shake  it  up !  " 

"  Look  here,  Curly,"  exclaimed  Mack,  pausing  in  the 
act  of  throwing  his  leg  over  the  saddle,  "  I  think  you 
ought  to  treat  Mr.  Smith  with  more  respect.  He  ain't 
your  hired  help." 

"  The  dickens  he  isn't !  "  grinned  Curly. 

"It's  all  right,  Mack!  I  enjoy  it,"  said  Enoch,  dis 
mounting  stiffly. 

"If  you  do,"  Mack  gave  him  a  keen  look,  "  you  aren't 
enjoying  it  the  way  Curly  thinks  you  do." 


THE  DESERT  153 

Enoch  returned  Mack's  gaze,  smiled,  but  said  nothing 
further.  Mack,  however,  continued  to  grumble. 

"  I'm  as  good  as  the  next  fellow,  but  I  don't  believe 
in  giving  everybody  a  slap  on  the  back  or  a  kick  in  the 
pants  to  prove  it.  You  may  be  a  lawyer,  all  right,  Mr. 
Smith,  but  I'll  bet  you're  on  the  bench.  You've  got  that 
way  with  you.  Not  that  it's  any  of  my  business !  " 

He  was  leading  the  way,  as  he  spoke,  toward  the  face  of 
a  mesa  that  abutted  almost  on  the  trail.  Curly  apparently 
had  not  paid  the  slightest  attention  to  the  reproof.  He 
was  already  hobbling  his  horse. 

They  made  no  attempt  to  look  for  a  spring.  The  hol 
lows  of  the  rocks  were  filled  with  rain  water.  But  the 
search  for  wood  was  long  and  arduous.  In  fact,  it  was 
nearly  dusk  before  they  had  gathered  enough  to  last  out 
the  evening.  But  here  and  there  a  tiny  cedar  or  mesquite 
yielded  itself  up  and  at  last  a  good  blaze  flared  up  before 
the  mesa.  The  men  shifted  to  dry  underwear,  wrung 
out  their  outer  clothing  and  put  it  on  again,  and  drank 
copiously  of  the  hot  coffee.  In  spite  of  damp  clothing 
and  blankets  Enoch  slept  deeply  and  dreamlessly,  and 
rose  the  next  day  none  the  worse  for  the  wetting.  Even 
in  this  short  time  his  physical  tone  was  improving  and  he 
felt  sure  that  his  mind  must  follow. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE    COLORADO 

"  We  had  a  particularly  vile  place  to  raid  to-day,  and 
as  I  listened  with  sick  heart  to  the  report  of  it,  suddenly 
I  saw  the  Canyon  and  F.'s  broad  back  on  his  mule  and 
the  glorious  line  of  the  rim  lifting  from  opalescent 
mists." 

—  Enoch's  Diary. 

THEY  had  been  a  week  on  the  trail  when  they  made 
camp  one  night  at  a  spring  surrounded  by  dwarf 
junipers.     Mack,  who  had  taken  the  trip  before,  greeted 
the  spring  with  a  shout  of  satisfaction. 

"  Ten  miles  from  the  river,  boys !  To-morrow  after 
noon  should  see  us  panning  gold." 

And  to-morrow  did,  indeed,  bring  the  river.  There 
was  a  wide  view  of  the  Colorado  as  they  approached  it. 
The  level  which  had  gradually  lifted  during  the  entire 
week,  making  each  day  cooler,  rarer,  as  it  came,  now 
sloped  downward,  while  mesa  and  headland  grew  higher, 
the  way  underfoot  more  broken,  the  trail  fainter  and 
fainter,  and  the  thermometer  rose  steadily. 

By  now  deep  fissures  appeared  in  the  desert  floor,  and 
to  the  north  lifted  great  mountains  that  were  banded  in 
multi-colored  strata,  across  which  drifted  veils  of  mist, 
lavender,  blue  and  gauzy  white.  Enoch's  heart  began  to 
beat  heavily.  It  was  the  Canyon  country,  indeed !  The 
country  of  enchantment  to  which  his  spirit  had  returned 
for  so  many  years. 

They  ate  lunch  in  a  little  canyon  opening  north  and 
south. 

"  At  the  north  end  of  this,"  said  Mack,  "  we  make  our 
first  sharp  drop  a  thousand  feet  straight  down.  She's  a 
devil  of  a  trail,  made  by  Indians  nobody  knows  when. 
Then  we  cross  a  plateau,  about  a  mile  wide,  as  I  remem- 

154 


THE  COLORADO  155 

ber,  then  it's  an  easy  grade  to  the  river.  We've  got  to 
go  over  the  girths  careful.  If  anything  slips  now  it's 
farewell !  " 

The  trail  was  a  nasty  one,  zig-zagging  down  the  over 
hanging  face  of  the  wall.  Enoch,  to  his  deep-seated  sat 
isfaction,  felt  no  sense  of  panic,  although  in  common  with 
Mack  and  Curly,  he  was  apprehensive  and  at  times  a 
little  giddy.  It  required  an  hour  to  compass  the  drop. 
At  the  bottom  was  a  tiny  spring  where  men  and  beasts 
drank  deeply,  then  started  on. 

The  plateau  was  rough,  deep  covered  with  broken 
rock,  but  the  trail,  though  faint,  held  to  the  edge.  At 
this  edge  the  men  paused.  The  Colorado  lay  before 
them. 

Fifty  feet  below  them  was  a  wide  stretch  of  sand. 
Next,  the  river,  smooth  brown,  slipping  rapidly  west 
ward.  Beyond  the  water,  on  the  opposite  side,  a  chaos 
of  rocks  greater  than  any  Enoch  had  yet  seen,  a  pile 
huge  as  if  a  mountain  had  fallen  to  pieces  at  the  river's 
edge.  Behind  the  broken  rock  rose  the  canyon  wall,  sheer 
black,  forbidding,  two  thousand  feet  into  the  air.  Its  top 
cut  straight  and  sharp  across  the  sky  line,  the  sky  line 
unbroken  save  where  rising  behind  the  wall  a  mountain 
peak,  snow  capped,  flecked  with  scarlet  and  gold,  towered 
in  the  sunlight. 

"  There  you  are,  Curly !  "  exclaimed  Mack.  "  There's 
a  spring  in  the  cave  beneath  us.  There's  drift  wood 
enough  to  run  a  factory  with.  Have  I  delivered  the 
goods,  or  not?  " 

"  Everything  is  as  per  advertisement  except  the  gold," 
replied  Curly. 

"•Oh,  well,  I  don't  vouch  for  the  gold  I "  said  Mack. 
"  I  just  said  the  Indians  claim  they  get  it  here.  There's 
some  grazing  for  the  critters  up  here  on  the  plateau,  you 
see,  and  not  a  bit  below.  So  we'll  drive  'em  back  up 
here  and  leave  'em.  With  a  little  feed  of  oats  once  in  a 
while,  they'll  do.  Come  ahead!  It'll  be  dark  in  the 
Canyon  inside  of  two  hours." 

The  cave  proved  to  be  a  hollow  overhang  of  the  plateau 


156         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

ten  or  fifteen  feet  deep,  and  twice  as  wide.     The  floor 
was  covered  with  sand. 

"  All  ready  to  go  to  housekeeping !  "  exclaimed  Curly. 
"  Judge,  you  wrangle  firewood  while  Mack  and  I  just 
give  this  placer  idea  a  ten  minutes'  trial,  will  you  ?  " 

"  Go  ahead !  "  said  Enoch,  "  all  the  gold  in  the  Colo 
rado  couldn't  tempt  me  like  something  to  eat.  If  you 
aren't  ready  by  the  time  the  fire's  going,  Mack,  I  shall 
start  supper." 

"  Go  to  it !  I  can  stand  it  if  you  can !  "  returned  Mack, 
who  had  already  unpacked  his  pan. 

From  that  moment  Enoch  became  the  commissary  and 
steward  for  the  expedition.  Curly  and  Mack,  whom 
he  had  known  as  mild  and  jovial  companions  of  many 
interests  and  leisurely  manners,  changed  in  a  twinkling 
to  monomaniacs  who  during  every  daylight  hour  except 
for  the  short  interim  which  they  snatched  for  eating, 
sought  for  gold.  At  first  Enoch  laughed  at  them  and 
tried  to  get  them  to  take  an  occasional  half  day  off  in 
which  to  explore  with  him.  But  they  curtly  refused  to 
do  this,  so  he  fell  back  on  his  own  resources.  And  he 
discovered  that  the  days  were  all  too  short.  Curly  had 
a  gun.  There  was  plenty  of  ammunition.  Quail  and 
cottontails  were  to  be  found  on  the  plateau  where  the 
stock  was  grazing.  Sometimes  on  Pablo,  sometimes 
afoot,  Enoch  with  the  gun,  and  sometimes  with  the  black 
diary  rolled  in  his  coat,  scoured  the  surrounding  country. 

One  golden  afternoon  he  edged  his  way  around  the 
shoulder  of  a  gnarled  and  broken  peak,  in  search  of  rab 
bits  for  supper.  Just  at  the  outermost  point  of  the  shoul 
der  he  came  upon  a  cedar  twisting  itself  about  a  broad, 
flat  bowlder.  Enoch  instantly  stopped  the  search  for 
game  and  dropped  upon  the  rock,  his  back  against  the 
cedar.  Lighting  his  pipe,  he  gave  himself  up  to  con 
templation  of  the  view.  Below  him  yawned  blue  space, 
flecked  with  rose  colored  mists.  Beyond  this  mighty  blue 
chasm  lay  a  mountain  of  purest  gold,  banded  with  white 
and  silhouetted  against  a  sky  of  palest  azure.  An  eagle 
dipped  lazily  across  the  heavens. 


THE  COLORADO  157 

When  he  had  gazed  his  fill,  Enoch  put  his  pipe  in  his 
pocket,  unrolled  the  diary  and,  balancing  it  on  his  knee, 
began  to  write: 

"  Oh,  Diana,  no  wonder  you  are  lovely !  No  wonder 
you  are  serene  and  pure  and  reverent ! 

'  And   her's   shall   be   the   breathing   balm 
And  her's  the  silence  and  the  calm ' — 

You  remember  how  it  goes,  Diana, 

"  I  heard  Curly  curse  yesterday.  A  thousand  echoes 
sent  his  words  back  to  him  and  he  looked  at  the  glory  of 
the  canyon  walls  and  was  ashamed.  I  saw  shame  in  his 
eyes. 

"  It  was  not  cowardice  that  drove  me  away  for  this 
interval,  Diana.  Never  believe  that  of  me!  I  was 
afraid,  yes,  but  of  myself,  not  of  the  newspapers.  If  I 
had  stayed  on  the  train,  I  would  have  returned  at  once 
to  Washington  and  have  shot  the  reporter  who  wrote  the 
stuff.  Perhaps  I  shall  do  it  yet.  But  if  I  do,  it  will  be 
after  the  Canyon  and  I  have  come  to  agreement  on  the 
subject.  I  am  very  sure  I  shall  shoot  Brown.  Some  one 
should  have  done  it,  long  ago. 

"  I  wonder  what  you  are  doing  this  afternoon.  Some 
where  between  a  hundred  and  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
we  are  from  Bright  Angel,  Mack  says,  via  the  river.  And 
only  a  handful  of  explorers,  you  told  me,  ever  have  com 
pleted  the  trip  down  the  Colorado.  I  would  like  to  try  it. 

"  Diana,  you  look  at  me  with  your  gentle,  faithful  eyes, 
the  corners  of  your  lips  a  little  uncertain  as  if  you  want 
to  tell  me  that  I  am  disappointing  you  and  yet,  because 
you  are  so  gentle,  you  did  not  want  to  hurt  me.  Diana, 
don't  be  troubled  about  me.  I  shall  go  back,  long  enough 
at  least  to  discharge  my  pressing  duties.  After  that,  who 
knows  or  cares !  Oh,  Diana !  Diana !  What  is  the  use  ? 
There  is  nothing  left  in  my  life.  I  am  empty  —  empty! 

"  Even  all  this  is  make  believe,  for,  as  soon  as  you  saw 
that  I  was  beginning  to  care  for  you, —  beginning  is  a 
good  word  here !  —  you  went  away. 

"  Good-by,  Diana." 


158         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

Enoch's  gun  made  no  contribution  to  the  larder  that 
night.  Curly  uttered  loud  and  bitter  comment  on  the 
fact. 

"  You're  getting  spoiled  by  high  living,"  said  Enoch 
severely.  "  What  would  you  have  done  if  I  hadn't  come 
along  and  taken  pity  on  you?  Why,  you  and  Mack 
would  have  starved  to  death  here  in  the  Canyon,  for  it's 
morally  certain  neither  of  you  would  have  stopped  pan 
ning  gold  long  enough  to  prepare  your  food." 

"  Right  you  are,  Judge,"  replied  Curly  meekly.  "  I'm 
going  to  try  to  get  Mack  to  rebate  two  bits  a  day  on  your 
board,  as  a  token  of  our  appreciation." 

"  Not  when  his  biscuits  have  to  be  broken  open  with 
a  stone,"  objected  Mack,  as  he  sopped  in  his  coffee  one 
of  the  gray  objects  Enoch  had  served  as  rolls. 

"  They  say  when  a  woman  that's  done  her  own  cook 
ing  first  gets  a  hired  girl,  she  becomes  right  picky  about 
her  food,"  rejoined  Curly. 

"  I'd  give  notice  if  I  had  any  place  to  go,"  said  Enoch. 
"  What  was  the  luck  to-day,  boys  ?  " 

"  Well,  I've  about  come  to  the  conclusion,"  replied 
Mack,  "  that  by  working  eight  hours  a  day  you  can  just 
about  wash  wages  out  of  this  sand,  and  that's  all." 

"  You  aren't  going  to  give  it  up  now,  are  you,  Mack?  " 
asked  Curly,  in  alarm. 

"  No,  I'll  stay  this  week  out,  if  you  want  to,  and  then 
move  on  up  to  Devil's  Canyon." 

They  were  silently  smoking  around  the  fire,  a  little 
later,  when  Curly  said : 

"  I  have  a  hunch  that  you  and  I're  not  going  to  get 
independent  wealth  out  of  this  expedition,  Mack." 

"  What  would  you  do  with  it,  if  you  had  it,  Curly?  " 
asked  Enoch. 

"  A  lot  of  things !  "  Curly  ruminated  darkly  for  a  few 
moments,  then  he  looked  at  Enoch  long  and  keenly. 
"  Smith,  you're  a  lawyer,  but  I  believe  you're  straight. 
There's  something  about  you  a  man  can't  help  trusting, 
and  I  think  you've  been  successful.  You  have  that  way 
with  you.  Do  you  know  what  I'd  do  if  I  was  taken 


THE  COLORADO  159 

suddenly  rich?  Well,  I'd  hire  you,  at  your  own  price, 
to  give  all  your  time  to  breaking  two  men.  Fowler  and 
Brown." 

"  Easy  now,  Curly !  "  Mack  spoke  soothingly.  "  Don't 
get  het  up.  What's  the  use  ?  " 

"  I'm  not  het  up.  I  want  to  get  the  Judge's  opinion 
of  the  matter." 

"  Go  ahead.     I'm  much  interested,"  said  Enoch. 

"  By  Brown,  I  mean  the  fellow  that  owns  the  news 
papers.  When  my  brother  and  Fowler  were  in  law  to 
gether  — " 

'  You  should  make  an  explanation  right  there,"  inter 
rupted  Mack.  "  You  said  all  lawyers  was  crooks." 

"  My  brother  Harry  was  straight  and  I've  just  given 
my  opinion  of  Smith  here.  I  never  liked  Fowler,  but  he 
had  great  personal  charm  and  Harry  never  would  take 
any  of  my  warnings  about  him.  Brown  was  a  short- 
legged  Eastern  college  boy  who  worked  on  the  local  paper 
for  his  health.  How  he  and  Fowler  ever  met  up,  I  don't 
know,  but  they  did,  and  the  law  office  was  Brown's  chief 
hang-out.  Now  all  three  of  'em  were  as  poor  as  this 
desert.  Nobody  was  paying  much  for  law  in  Arizona 
in  those  days.  Our  guns  was  our  lawyers.  But  by  some 
fluke,  Harry  was  made  trustee  of  a  big  estate  —  a  smelt 
ing  plant  that  had  been  left  to  a  kid.  After  a  few  years, 
the  courts  called  for  an  accounting,  and  it  turned  out 
that  my  brother  was  short  about  a  hundred  thousand 
dollars.  He  seemed  totally  bewildered  when  this  was  dis 
covered,  swore  he  knew  nothing  about  it  and  was  ter 
ribly  upset.  And  this  devil  of  a  Fowler  turns  round  and 
says  Harry  made  way  writh  it  and  produces  Brown  as  a 
witness.  And,  by  the  lord,  the  court  believed  them !  My 
brother  killed  himself."  Curly  cleared  his  throat.  "  It 
wasn't  six  months  after  that  that  Fowler  and  Brown,  who 
left  the  state  right  after  the  tragedy,  bought  a  couple  of 
newspapers.  They  claimed  they  got  the  money  from 
some  oil  wells  they'd  struck  in  Mexico." 

"  How  is  it  the  country  at  large  doesn't  know  of  Fow 
ler's  association  with  Brown?  "  asked  Enoch. 


160         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  Oh,  they  didn't  stay  pardners  as  far  as  the  public 
knows,  but  a  few  years.  They  were  too  clever!  They 
gave  out  that  they'd  had  a  split  and  they  say  nobody  ever 
sees  them  together.  All  the  same,  even  when  they  were 
seeming  to  ignore  him,  the  Brown  papers  have  been  mak 
ing  Fowler." 

"  And  you  want  to  clear  your  brother's  name,"  said 
Enoch  thoughtfully.  "  That  ought  not  to  be  difficult. 
You  could  probably  do  it  yourself,  if  you  could  give  the 
time,  and  were  clever  at  sleuthing.  The  papers  in  the 
case  should  be  accessible  to  you." 

"Shucks!"  exclaimed  Curly.  "I  wouldn't  go  at  it 
that  way  at  all.  I  got  something  real  on  Fowler  and 
Brown  and  I  want  to  use  it  to  make  them  confess." 

"  Sounds  like  blackmail,"  said  Enoch. 

"  Sure !  That's  where  I  need  a  lawyer !  Now,  I  hap 
pen  to  know  a  personal  weakness  of  Fowler's  — " 

"Don't  go  after  him  on  that!"  Enoch's  voice  was 
peremptory.  "If  he's  done  evil  to  some  one  else,  throw 
the  light  of  day  on  his  crime,  but  if  by  his  weakness  you 
mean  only  some  sin  he  commits  against  himself,  keep  off. 
A  man,  even  a  crook,  has  a  right  to  that  much  privacy.'" 

"  Did  Brown  ever  have  decency  toward  a  man's  seclu 
sion?"  demanded  Curly. 

"No!"  half  shouted  Enoch.  "But  to  punish  him 
don't  turn  yourself  into  the  same  kind  of  a  skunk  he  is. 
Kill  him  if  you  have  to.  Don't  be  a  filthy  scandal  monger 
like  Brown ! " 

"  You  speak  as  if  you  knew  the  gentleman,"  grunted 
Mack. 

"  I  don't  know  him,"  retorted  Enoch,  "  except  as  the 
world  knows  him." 

"  Then  you  don't  know  him,  or  Fowler  either,"  said 
Curly.  "  But  I  happen  to  have  discovered  something 
that  both  those  gentlemen  have  been  mixed  up  in,  in 
Mexico,  something  —  oh,  by  Jove,  but  it's  racy!  " 

"  You've  managed  to  keep  it  to  yourself,  so  far,"  said 
Mack. 

"  Meaning  I'd  better  continue  to  do  so!     Only  so  long 


THE  COLORADO  161 

w«  it  serves  my  purpose,  Mack.  When  I  get  ready  to 
raise  hell  about  Fowler's  and  Brown's  ears,  no  considera 
tion  for  decency  will  stop  me.  I'll  be  just  as  merciful  to 
them  as  they  were  to  Harry.  No  more !  I'll  string  their 
dirty  linen  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  His  and 
Brown's !  But  I  want  money  enough  to  do  it  right.  No 
little  piker  splurge  they  can  buy  up !  I'll  have  those  two 
birds  weeping  blood !  " 

Enoch  moistened  his  lips.  "  What's  the  story, 
Curly?  "  he  asked  evenly. 

Curly  filled  and  lighted  his  pipe.  But  before  he  could 
answer  Enoch,  Mack  said : 

"  Sleep  on  it,  Curly.  Mud  slinging's  bad  business. 
Sleep  on  it !  " 

"  I've  a  great  contempt  for  Brown,"  said  Enoch.  "  I'm 
a  good  deal  tempted  to  help  you  out,  that  is,  if  it  is  to  the 
interest  of  the  public  that  the  story  be  told." 

"  It  will  interest  the  public.  You  can  bet  on  that !  " 
Curly  laughed  sardonically.  Then  he  rose,  with  a  yawn. 
"  But  it's  late  and  we'll  finish  the  story  to-morrow  night. 
Judge,  I  have  a  hunch  you're  my  man!  I  sabez  there's 
heap  devil  in  you,  if  we  could  once  get  you  mad." 

Enoch  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "  Perhaps !  "  he  said, 
and  he  unrolled  his  blankets  for  bed. 

But  it  was  long  before  he  slept.  The  hand  of  fate  was 
on  him,  he  told  himself.  How  else  could  he  have  been 
led  in  all  the  wide  desert  to  find  this  man  who  held 
Brown's  future  in  his  hands  ?  Suddenly  Enoch  saw  him 
self  returning  to  Washington  with  power  to  punish  as 
he  had  been  punished.  His  feeble  protests  to  Curly  were 
swept  away.  He  felt  the  blood  rush  to  his  temples.  And 
anger  that  had  so  far  been  submerged  by  pain  and  shame 
suddenly  claimed  its  hour.  His  rage  was  not  only  at 
Brown.  Luigi,  his  mother,  most  of  all  this  woman  who 
had  been  his  mother,  claimed  his  fury.  The  bitterness 
and  humiliation  of  a  lifetime  burst  through  the  gates  of 
his  self-control.  He  stole  from  the  cave  to  the  sandy 
shore  and  there  he  strode  up  and  down  like  a  madman. 
He  was  physically  exhausted  long  before  the  tempest  sub- ( 


162          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

sided.  But  gradually  he  regained  his  self-control  and 
slipped  back  into  his  blankets.  There,  with  the  thought 
of  vengeance  sweet  on  his  lips,  he  fell  asleep. 

Curly  was,  of  course,  entirely  engrossed  the  next  day 
by  his  mining  operations.  Enoch  had  not  expected  or 
wished  him  to  be  otherwise.  He  felt  that  he  needed  the 
day  alone  to  get  a  grip  on  himself. 

That  afternoon  he  climbed  up  the  plateau  to  the  enter 
ing  trail,  up  the  trail  to  the  desert.  He  was  full  of  en 
ergy.  He  was  conscious  of  a  purpose  fulness  and  a  keen 
interest  in  life  to  which  he  had  long  been  a  stranger.  As 
he  filled  the  gunny  sack  which  he  carried  for  a  game  bag 
with  quail  and  rabbits,  he  occasionally  laughed  aloud. 
He  was  thinking  of  the  expression  that  would  appear  on 
Curly 's  face  if  he  learned  into  whose  hands  he  was  put 
ting  his  dynamite ! 

The  sun  was  setting  when  he  reached  the  head  of  the 
trail  on  his  way  campward.  All  the  world  to  the  west, 
sky,  peaks,  mesas,  sand  and  rock  had  turned  to  a  burn 
ing  rose  color.  The  plateau  edge,  near  his  feet,  was 
green.  These  were  the  only  two  colors  in  all  the  world. 
Enoch  stood  absorbed  by  beauty  when  a  sound  of  voices 
came  faintly  from  behind  him. 

His  first  thought  was  that  Mack  and  Curly  had  stolen 
a  march  on  him.  His  next  was  that  strangers,  who  might 
recognize  him,  were  near  at  hand.  He  started  down  the 
trail  as  rapidly  as  he  dared.  It  was  dusk  when  he  reached 
the  foot.  For  the  last  half  of  the  trip  voices  had  been 
floating  down  to  him,  as  the  newcomers  threaded  their 
way  slowly  but  steadily.  Enoch  stood  panting  at  the  foot 
of  the  trail,  listening  acutely.  A  voice  called.  Another 
voice  answered.  Enoch  suddenly  lost  all  power  to  move. 
The  full  moon  sailed  silently  over  the  plateau  wall. 
Enoch,  grasping  his  gun  and  his  game  bag,  stood  waiting. 

A  mule  came  swiftly  down  the  last  turn  of  the  trail 
and  headed  for  the  spring.  The  man  who  was  riding  him 
pulled  him  back  on  his  haunches  with  a  "  Whoa,  you 
mule !  "  that  echoed  like  a  cannon  shot.  Then  he  flung 
himself  off  with  another  cry. 


THE  COLORADO  163 

"  Oh,  boss !  Oh,  boss !  Here  he  is,  Miss  Diana !  O 
dear  Lord,  here  he  is!  Boss!  Boss!  How  come  you 
to  treat  me  so !  " 

And  Jonas  threw  his  arms  around  Enoch  with  a  sob 
that  could  not  be  repressed. 

Enoch  put  a  shaking  hand  on  Jonas'  shoulder.  "  So 
you  found  your  bad  charge,  old  man,  didn't  you?  " 

"  Me  find  you  ?  No,  boss,  Miss  Diana,  she  found  you. 
Here  she  is  !  " 

Diana  dropped  from  her  horse,  slender  and  tall  in  her 
riding  clothes. 

"  So  Jonas'  pain  is  relieved,  eh,  Mr.  Huntingdon !  Are 
you  having  a  good  holiday  ?  " 

"  Great !  "  replied  Enoch  huskily. 

"  I  told  Jonas  it  was  the  most  sensible  thing  a  man 
could  do,  who  was  as  tired  as  you  are,  but  he  would  have 
it  you'd  die  without  him.  If  you  don't  want  him,  I'll 
take  him  away." 

"  You'd  have  to  take  me  feet  first,  Miss  Diana,"  said 
Jonas,  with  a  grin.  "  Where's  that  Na-che?  " 

"  Here  she  comes!  "  laughed  Diana.  "  Poor  Na-che! 
She  hates  to  hurry!  She's  got  a  real  grievance  against 
you,  Jonas." 

Two  pack  mules  lunged  down  the  trail,  followed  by  a 
squat  figure  on  an  Indian  pony. 

"  This  is  Na-che,  Mr.  Huntingdon,"  said  Diana. 

Enoch  shook  hands  with  the  Indian  woman,  whose  face 
was  as  dark  as  Jonas'  in  the  moonlight.  "  Where's  your 
camp,  Mr.  Huntingdon?  "  Diana  went  on. 

"  Just  a  moment !  "  Enoch  had  recovered  his  com 
posure.  "  I  am  with  two  miners,  Mackay  and  Field.  To 
them,  I  am  a  lawyer  named  Smith.  I  would  like  very 
much  to  remain  unknown  to  them  during  the  remaining 
two  weeks  of  my  vacation." 

Jonas  heaved  a  great  sigh  that  sounded  curiously  like 
an  expression  of  vast  and  many  sided  relief.  Then  he 
chuckled.  "  Easy  enough  for  me.  You  can't  never  be 
nothing  but  Boss  to  me." 

But  Diana  was  troubled.     "  I  thought  we'd  camp  with 


164         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

your  outfit  to-night.  But  we'd  better  not.  I'd  be  sure 
to  make  a  break.  Are  you  positive  that  these  men  don't 
know  you  ?  " 

"  Positive !  "  exclaimed  Enoch.  "  Why,  just  look  at 
me,  Miss  Allen !  " 

Diana  glanced  at  boots,  overalls  and  flannel  shirt,  com 
ing  to  pause  at  the  fine  lion-like  head.  "  Of  course,  your 
disguise  is  very  impressive,"  she  laughed.  "  But  I  would 
say  that  it  was  impressive  in  that  it  accents  your  own  pe 
culiarities." 

"  That  outfit  is  something  fierce,  boss.  I  brung  you 
some  riding  breeches,"  exclaimed  Jonas. 

"  I  don't  want  'em,"  said  Enoch.  "  Miss  Allen,  Field 
j;alls  me  Judge.  How  would  that  do?  " 

"  Well,  I'll  try  it,"  agreed  Diana  reluctantly.  "  I  know 
both  the  men,  by  the  way.  Mack,  especially,  is  well 
known  among  the  Indians.  What  explanation  shall  we 
make  them  ?  " 

"  Why  not  the  truth  ?  "  asked  Enoch.  "  I  mean,  tell 
them  that  I  slipped  away  from  my  friends  and  that  Jonas 
tagged." 

"  Very  well!  "  Diana  and  Jonas  both  nodded. 

"  And  now,"  Enoch  lifted  his  game  bag,  "  let's  get  on. 
My  partners  are  going  to  be  worried.  And  I'm  the  cook 
for  the  outfit,  too." 

"  Boss,"  Jonas  took  the  game  bag,  "  you  take  my  mule 
and  go  on  with  Miss  Diana  and  Na-che  and  I'll  come 
along  with  the  rest  of  the  cattle." 

Enoch  obediently  mounted.  Diana  fell  in  beside  him, 
and  looked  anxiously  into  his  face.  "  Please,  Judge,  are 
you  very  cross  with  me  for  breaking  in  on  you?  But 
poor  Jonas  was  consumed  with  fear  for  you.'' 

Enoch  put  his  hand  on  Diana's  as  it  rested  on  her 
knee.  "  You  must  know !  "  he  said,  and  was  silent. 

"  Then  it's  all  right,"  sighed  Diana,  after  a  moment. 

"  Yes,  it's  quite  all  right !  How  did  Jonas  find 
you?" 

"  It  seems  that  he  and  Charley  concluded  that  you 
must  have  headed  toward  Bright  Angel.  Charley  went 


THE  COLORADO  165 

on  to  Washington  to  keep  things  in  order  there.  Jonas 
went  up  to  El  Tovar.  I  had  just  outfitted  for  a  trip  into 
the  Hopi  country  when  Jonas  came  to  me.  He  had  talked 
to  no  one.  He  is  wonderfully  circumspect,  but  he  was 
frantic  beneath  his  calm.  He  begged  me  to  find  you  for 
him  and  —  well,  I  was  a  little  anxious  myself  —  so  I 
didn't  need  much  urging.  We  had  only  been  out  a  week 
when  we  met  John  Red  Sun.  The  rest  was  easy.  If  a 
person  sticks  to  the  trails  in  Arizona  it's  difficult  not  to 
trace  them.  Look,  Judge,  your  friends  have  lighted  a 
signal  fire." 

"  Poor  chaps !  They're  starved  and  worried ! " 
Enoch  quickened  his  mule's  pace  and  Diana  fell  in  be 
hind  him. 

Mack  and  Curly  were  standing  beside  the  blaze  at  the 
edge  of  the  plateau.  Enoch  jumped  from  the  saddle. 

"  I'm  awfully  sorry,  fellows !  But  you  see,  I  was  de 
tained  by  a  lady !  " 

"  For  heaven's  sake,  Diana !  "  cried  Mack.  "  Where 
did  you  come  from  ?  " 

"Hello,  Mack!  Hello,  Curly!"  Diana  dismounted 
and  shook  hands.  "  Well,  the  Judge  gave  his  friends  the 
slip.  Everybody  was  satisfied  but  his  colored  man,  Jonas. 
He  was  absolutely  certain  the  Judge  wouldn't  keep  his 
face  clean  or  his  feet  dry  and  he  so  worked  on  my  feel 
ings  that  I  trailed  you  people.  I  was  going  into  the 
Hopi  country  anyhow." 

Curly  gave  Enoch  a  knowing  glance.  "  We  thought 
he  was  putting  something  over  on  us.  What  is  he,  Diana, 
a  member  of  the  Supreme  Bench?" 

"Huh!     Hardly!" 

Everybody  laughed  at  Diana's  derisive  tone  and  Curly 
added,  "  Anyhow,  he's  a  rotten  cook.  I  was  thinking  of 
putting  Mack  back  on  his  old  job." 

"  Don't  intrude,  Curly,"  said  Enoch.  "  I've  been  out 
and  brought  in  an  assistant  who's  an  expert." 

"  That's  you,  I  suppose,  Diana !  "  Mack  chuckled. 

"  No,  it's  Jonas,  the  colored  man.  He'll  be  along  with 
Na-che  in  a  moment.  This  isn't  your  camp?  " 


166         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  Come  along,  Miss  Allen !  "  exclaimed  Enoch.  "  I'll 
show  you  a  camp  that's  run  by  an  expert." 

Mack  and  Curly  groaned  and  followed  Enoch  and 
Diana  down  to  the  cave,  Jonas  and  Na-che  appearing 
shortly.  Jonas,  hobbling  to  the  cave  opening  stood  for 
a  moment,  gazing  at  the  group  around  the  fire  in  silent 
despair.  Finally  he  said : 

"  When  I  get  back  to  Washington,  if  I  live  to  get 
there,  they'll  put  me  out  of  the  Baptist  Church  as  a  liar, 
if  I  try  to  tell  'em  what  I  been  through.  Boss,  what  you 
trying  to  do?  " 

"  Dress  these  quail,"  grunted  Enoch. 

Jonas  gave  Curly  and  Mack  a  withering  glance,  started 
to  speak,  swallowed  something  and  said,  "  How  come  you 
to  think  you  was  a  butcher,  boss?  Leave  me  get  my 
hands  on  those  birds.  I  should  think  you  done  enough, 
killing  'em." 

"  No,"  said  Enoch,  "  I'm  the  cook  for  to-night.  But, 
Jonas,  old  man,  if  you  aren't  too  knocked  up,  you  might 
make  some  biscuit." 

"  Jonas  looks  to  me,"  suggested  Mack,  "  like  a  cup  of 
coffee  and  a  seat  by  the  fire  was  about  his  limit  to-night. 
I'll  get  the  rest  of  the  grub,  if  you'll  tend  to  the  quail, 
Judge.  Curly,  you  go  out  and  unpack  for  Diana.  We'll 
turn  the  cave  over  to  you  and  Na-che  to-night,  Diana." 

Diana,  who  was  sitting  on  a  rock  by  the  fire,  long, 
slender  legs  crossed,  hands  clasping  one  knee,  an  amused 
spectator  of  the  scene,  looked  up  at  Mack  with  a  smile. 

"  Indeed  you  won't,  Mack.  Na-che  and  I  have  our 
tent.  We'll  put  it  up  in  the  sand,  as  usual.  And  to 
morrow,  having  delivered  our  prize  package,  we'll  be  on 
our  way." 

Enoch  looked  up  quickly.  "  Don't  be  selfish,  Miss  Al 
len  !  "  he  exclaimed. 

"  That's  the  idea !  "  Mack  joined  in  vehemently.  Then 
he  added,  with  a  grin,  "  The  Judge  has  plumb  ruined  our 
quiet  little  expedition  anyhow.  And  after  two  weeks  of 
him  and  Curly,  I'm  darn  glad  to  see  you,  Diana.  How's 
your  Dad?" 


THE  COLORADO  167 

"  Very  well,  indeed !  If  he  had  had  any  idea  that  I  was 
going  on  this  sort  of  trip,  though,  I  think  he'd  have  in 
sisted  on  coming  with  me.  Judge,  let  me  finish  those 
birds.  You're  ruining  them." 

"  Whose  quail  are  these,  I'd  like  to  know?  "  demanded 
Enoch. 

"  Yours,"  replied  Diana  meekly,  "  but  I  had  thought 
that  some  edible  portion  besides  the  pope's  nose  and  the 
neck  ought  to  be  left  on  them." 

Jonas,  who  had  been  crouching  uneasily  on  a  rock,  a 
disapproving  spectator  of  the  scene,  groaned  audibly. 
Na-che  now  came  into  the  glow  of  the  fire.  She  was  a 
comely-faced  woman,  of  perhaps  forty-five,  neatly  dressed 
in  a  denim  suit.  Her  black  eyes  twinkled  as  she  took 
in  the  situation. 

"  Na-che,  you  come  over  here  and  sit  down  by  me," 
said  Jonas.  "  If  I  can't  help,  neither  can  you." 

Na-che  smiled,  showing  strong  white  teeth.  "  You 
feel  sick  from  the  saddle,  eh,  Jonas?  " 

"  Don't  you  worry  about  that,  woman !  I'll  show  you 
I'm  as  good  as  any  Indian  buck  that  ever  lived !  " 

Na-che  grunted  incredulously,  but  sat.  down  beside 
Jonas  nevertheless. 

In  spite  of  the  gibes,  supper  was  ready  eventually  and 
was  devoured  with  approval.  When  the  meal  was  fin 
ished,  Na-che  and  Jonas  cleared  up,  then  Jonas  took  his 
blanket  and  retired  to  a  corner  of  the  cave,  whence 
emerged  almost  immediately  the  sound  of  regular  snor 
ing.  The  others  sat  around  the  fire  only  a  short  time. 

"  You'll  stick  around  for  a  little  while,  won't  you, 
Diana?  "  said  Curly,  as  he  filled  his  first  pipe. 

"  I  really  ought  to  pull  out  in  the  morning,"  replied 
Diana.  "  There  are  some  very  special  pictures  I  want 
to  get  at  Oraibai  about  now." 

"  There  is  a  cliff  dwelling  down  the  river  about  three 
miles,"  said  Enoch.  "  I  haven't  found  the  trail  into  it 
yet,  but  I  saw  the  dwelling  distinctly  from  a  curve  on 
the  top  of  the  Canyon  wall.  It's  a  huge  construction." 

"  Is  that  so  ?  "  exclaimed  Diana  eagerly.     "  Why,  those 


i68          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

must  be  the  Gray  ruins.     I  didn't  realize  we  were  so 
close  to  them.     Well,  you've  tempted  me  and  I've  fallen. 
I  really  must  give  a  day  to  those  remains.     Only  one  or 
two  whites  have  ever  gone  through  them." 
Enoch  smiled  complacently. 

"  How  long  have  you  and  the  Judge  known  each 
other,  Diana?  "  asked  Curly  suddenly. 

Diana  hesitated  but  Enoch  spoke  quickly.  "  The  first 
time  I  saw  Miss  Allen  she  was  a  baby  of  five  or  six  on 
Bright  Angel  trail." 

Curly  whistled.  "  Then  you've  got  it  on  the  rest  of 
us.  I  first  saw  her  when  she  was  a  sassy  miss  in  school 
at  Tucson." 

"  Nothing  on  me !  "  said  Mack.  "  I  held  her  in  my 
arms  when  she  was  ten  days  old,  and  my  wife  was  with 
her  mother  and  Na-che  when  she  was  born.  You  were 
a  red-faced,  squalling  brat,  Diana." 

"  She  was  a  beautiful  baby!  She  never  cried,"  conv 
tradicted  Na-che  flatly. 

Diana  laughed  and  rose.  "  This  is  getting  too  per 
sonal.  I'm  going  to  bed,"  she  said.  The  men  looked  at 
her,  admiration  in  every  face. 

"  Anything  any  of  us  can  do  for  your  comfort, 
Diana?"  asked  Curly.  "Na-che  seemed  satisfied  with 
the  place  I  put  your  tent  in." 

"  Everything  is  fine,  thank  you,"  Diana  held  out  her 
hand,  "  Good  night,  Curly.  I  really  think  you're  hand 
somer  than  ever." 

"  Lots  of  good  that'll  do  me,"  retorted  Curly. 

Diana  made  a  little  grimace  at  him  and  turned  to 
Mack.  "  Good  night,  Mack.  I'll  bet  you're  homesick 
for  Mrs.  Mack  this  minute." 

"  She's  a  pretty  darned  fine  old  woman !  "  Mack  nodded 
soberly. 

"  Old !  "  said  Diana  scornfully.  "  You  ought  to  have 
your  ears  boxed !  Good  night,  Judge !  " 

"Good  night,  Miss  Allen!" 

The  three  men  watched  the  tall  figure  swing  out  into 
the  moonlight. 


THE  COLORADO  169 

"  There  goes  the  most  beautiful  human  being  I  ever 
hope  to  see,"  said  Curly,  turning  to  unroll  his  blankets. 

"  If  I  was  a  painter  and  wanted  to  tell  what  this  here 
country  was  really  like,  at  its  best,  I'd  paint  Diana." 
Mack's  voice  was  very  earnest. 

"  Shucks !  "  sniffed  Curly,  "  that  isn't  saying  anything, 
is  it,  Judge  ?  " 

"  It's  hard  to  put  her  into  words,"  replied  Enoch  care 
fully.  "  Curly,  are  you  too  tired  to  continue  our  last 
night's  talk?" 

"  Oh,  let's  put  it  over  till  to-morrow !  We've  lots  of 
time!  "  Curly  gave  a  great  yawn. 

Enoch  said  nothing  more  but  rolled  himself  in  his 
blankets,  with  the  full  intention  of  formulating  his  line 
of  conduct  toward  Diana  before  going  to  sleep.  He 
stretched  himself  luxuriously  in  the  sand  and  the  next 
thing  he  heard  was  Diana's  laugh  outside.  He  opened 
his  eyes  in  bewilderment.  It  was  dawn  without  the  cave. 
Jonas  was  hobbling  down  toward  the  river. 

"  Oh,  Jonas,  you  poor  thing !  Do  let  Na-che  give  you 
a  good  rubdown  before  you  try  to  do  anything! " 

"  No,  Miss  Diana.  If  the  boss  can  stand  these  goings 
on,  I  can.  How  come  he  ever  thought  this  was  sport, 
I  don't  know.  I'll  never  live  to  get  him  back  home!  " 

"  Where  are  you  going,  Jonas  ?  "  called  Curly. 

Jonas  paused.  "  I  ain't  going  to  turn  myself  round, 
unless  I  have  to.  What's  wanted?  " 

"  I  just  wanted  to  warn  you  that  the  Colorado's  no 
place  for  a  morning  swim,"  Curly  said. 

"  I'm  just  going  to  get  the  boss's  shaving  water." 

"  There's  a  hint  for  you,  Judge,"  Curly  turned  to 
Enoch.  "  I  hope  you  plan  to  give  more  attention  to 
your  toilet  after  this." 

"  You  go  to  blazes,  Curly,"  said  Enoch  amiably.  "  I 
haven't  got  the  reputation  for  pulchritude  to  live  up  to 
that  you  have." 

"  Diana's  imagination  was  in  working  order  last  night," 
volunteered  Mack.  "  To  my  positive  knowledge  Curly 
lin't  washed  or  shaved  for  three  days." 


170         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"You've  drunk  of  the  Hassayampa  too,  Mack!" 
Curly  ran  the  comb  through  his  black  locks  vindictively. 

'''  What's  the  effect  of  that  draught?  "  asked  Enoch. 

'"'  You  never  tell  the  truth  again,"  said  Curly. 

Na-che's  voice  floated  in.  "  Jonas,  you  tell  the  men 
I  got  breakfast  already  for  'em.  Tell  'em  to  bring  their 
own  cups  and  plates." 

"Sounds  rotten,  huh?"  Curly  sauntered  out  of  the 
cave. 

It  was  a  very  pleasant  meal.  To  Enoch  it  was  all  a 
dream.  It  seemed  impossible  for  him  to  absorb  the  fact 
that  he  and  Diana  were  together  in  the  Colorado  Canyon. 
When  the  last  of  the  coffee  was  gone,  Curly  looked  at  his 
watch,  then  turned  severely  to  Enoch. 

"  We're  an  hour  earlier  than  we've  ever  been,  and  all 
because  of  women!  Aren't  you  ashamed?" 

"  Run  along  and  wash  dirt,"  returned  Enoch.  "  For 
two  cents  I'd  tell  how  long  it  took  me  to  get  you  up  yes 
terday  morning." 

"What's  your  program,  Diana?"  asked  Mack. 

"  Na-che  and  I  are  going  over  to  the  cliff  dwelling. 
We'll  be  gone  all  day." 

"  I'll  act  as  guide,"  said  Enoch  with  alacrity. 

"  It's  not  necessary !  "  exclaimed  Diana.  "  I  don't 
want  to  interrupt  your  camp  routine  at  all.  You  just 
give  us  directions,  Judge.  Na-che  and  I  are  old  hands 
at  this,  you  know." 

"  Oh,  take  him  along,  Diana !  He'll  be  crying  in  a 
minute,"  sniffed  Curly.  "  Jonas,  you'll  stay  and  give  us 
a  feed,  won't  you?" 

"  I  got  to  look  out  for  the  boss,"  Jonas  spoke  anxiously. 

A  shout  went  up.  "  Jonas,  old  boy,"  said  Enoch,  "  you 
stay  in  camp  to-day  and  er  —  look  over  my  clothes." 

"  I  will,  boss,"  with  intense  relief,  "  and  I'll  make  you 
a  stew  out  of  those  rabbits  nobody'll  forget  in  a  hurry." 

Mack  and  Curly  hurried  off  to  the  river's  edge.  Na- 
che  and  Jonas  went  into  the  cave.  Enoch  looked  at 
Diana.  She  was  standing  by  the  breakfast  fire  slender 
and  straight  in  her  brown  corduroy  riding  suit,  her  wide, 


THE  COLORADO  171 

intelligent  eyes  studying  Enoch's  face.  There  was  a 
glow  of  crimson  in  the  cream  of  her  cheeks,  for  the  morn 
ing  air  held  frost  in  its  touch. 

"  May  I  go  with  you?  "  repeated  Enoch.  "  I'll  be  very 
good !  " 

Diana  did  not  reply  at  first  Moonlight  and  firelight 
had  not  permitted  her  before  to  read  clearly  the  story 
of  suffering  that  was  in  Enoch's  face.  During  break 
fast  he  had  been  laughing  and  chatting  constantly.  But 
now,  as  he  stood  before  her,  she  was  appalled  by  what 
she  saw  in  the  rugged  face.  There  were  two  straight, 
deep  lines  between  his  brows.  The  lines  from  nostril 
to  lip  corner  were  doubly  pronounced.  The  thin,  sensi 
tive  lips  were  compressed.  The  clear,  kindly  blue  eyes 
were  contracted  as  if  Enoch  were  enduring  actual  phys 
ical  pain.  Tall  and  powerful,  his  dark  red  hair  tossed 
back  from  his  forehead,  his  look  of  trouble  did  not  de 
tract  from  the  peculiar  forcefulness  of  his  personality. 

"  If  you  hesitate  so  long,"  he  said,  "  I  shall  — " 

Diana  laughed.  "Begin  to  cry,  as  Curly  said?  Oh, 
don't  do  that!  I  shall  be  very  happy  to  have  you  with 
me,  but  before  we  start,  I  think  I  shall  develop  some  of 
the  films  I  exposed  on  the  way  over.  A  ten  o'clock  start 
will  be  early  enough,  won't  it?  I  have  a  developing  ma 
chine  with  me.  It  may  not  take  me  even  until  ten." 

Enoch  nodded.  "  How  does  the  work  go?  "  he  asked 
eagerly.  "  Did  you  attend  the  ceremony  Na-che  sent 
word  to  you  about?  " 

"Yes!  Out  of  a  hundred  exposures  I  made  there,  I 
think  I  got  one  fairly  satisfactory  picture."  Diana 
sighed.  "  After  all,  the  camera  tells  the  story  no  better 
than  words,  and  words  are  futile.  Look!  What  me 
dium  could  one  use  to  tell  the  world  of  that?  " 

She  swept  her  arm  to  embrace  the  view  before  them. 
The  tiny  sandy  beach  was  on  a  curve  of  the  river  so 
sharp  that  above  and  below  them  the  rushing  waters 
seemed  to  drive  into  blind  canyon  walls.  To  the  right, 
the  Canyon  on  both  sides  was  so  sheer,  the  river  bed  so 
narrow  that  nothing  but  sky  was  to  be  seen  above  and 


172          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

beyond.  But  to  the  left,  the  south  canyon  wall  terraced 
back  at  perhaps  a  thousand  feet  in  a  series  of  magnificent 
strata,  yellow,  purple  and  crimson.  Still  south  of  this, 
lifted  great  weathered  buttes  and  mesas,  fortifications  of 
the  gods  against  time  itself.  The  morning  sun  had  not 
yet  reached  the  camp,  but  it  shone  warm  and  vivid  on 
the  peaks  to  the  south,  burning  through  the  drifting  mists 
from  .the  river,  in  colors  that  thrilled  the  heart  like  music. 

Enoch's  eyes  followed  Diana's  gesture.  "  I  know,"  he 
said,  softly.  "  It's  impossible  to  express  it.  I've  thought 
of  you  and  your  work  so  often,  down  here.  Somehow, 
though,  you  do  suggest  the  unattainable  in  your  pictures. 
It's  what  makes  them  great." 

Diana  shook  her  head  and  turned  toward  her  tent,  while 
Enoch  lighted  his  pipe  and  began  his  never-ending  task 
of  bringing  in  drift  wood.  He  paused,  a  log  on  his 
shoulder,  before  Curly,  who  was  squatting  beside  his 
muddy  pan. 

"  Curly,"  he  said,  "  is  that  stuff  you  have  on  Fowler 
and  Brown,  political,  financial,  or  a  matter  of  personal 
morals?  " 

"  Personal  morals  and  worse !  "  grunted  Curly.  "  It's 
some  story !  " 

Enoch  turned  away  without  comment.  But  the  lines 
between  his  eyes  deepened. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE   CLIFF  DWELLING 

"  Love !  that  which  turns  the  meanest  man  to  a  god 
in  some  one's  eyes !  Yet  I  must  not  know  it !  Sup 
pose  I  cast  my  responsibility  to  the  winds  and  .  .  . 
and  yet  that  sense  of  responsibility  is  all  that  differ 
entiates  me  from  Minetta  Lane." 

—  Enoch's  Diary. 

DIANA  began  work  on  her  films  on  a  little  folding 
table  beside  the  spring.  Enoch,  throwing  down  his 
log  close  to  the  cave  opening,  paused  to  watch  her.  Jonas 
and  Na-che,  putting  the  cave  in  order,  talked  quietly  to 
each  other.  Suddenly  from  the  river,  to  the  right,  there 
rose  a  man's  half  choking,  agonized  shout  and  around 
the  curve  shot  a  skiff,  bottom  up,  a  man  clinging  to  the 
gunwale.  The  water  was  too  wild  and  swift  for  swim 
ming. 

"  The  rope,  Judge,  the  rope !  "  cried  Mack. 

Enoch  picked  up  a  coil  of  rope,  used  for  staking  the 
horses,  and  ran  to  Mack  who  snatched  it,  twirled  it  round 
his  head  and  as  the  boat  rushed  by  him,  the  noosed  end 
shot  across  the  gunwale.  The  man  caught  it  over  his 
wrist  and  it  was  the  work  of  but  a  few  moments  to  pull 
him  ashore. 

He  was  a  young  man,  with  a  two  days'  beard  on  his 
face,  clad  in  the  universal  overalls  and  blue  flannel  shirt. 
He  lay  on  the  sand,  too  exhausted  to  move  for  perhaps 
five  minutes,  while  Jonas  pulled  off  his  sodden  shoes,  and 
Na-che  ran  to  kindle  a  fire  and  heat  water.  After  a  mo 
ment,  however  the  stranger  began  to  talk. 

"Almost  got  me  that  time!  Forgot  to  put  my  life 
preserver  on.  Don't  bother  about  me.  I'm  drowned 
every  day.  Another  boat  with  the  rest  of  us  should  be 


174         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

along  shortly.     Hope  they  salvaged  some  of  the  stuff." 

"  What  in  time  are  you  trying  to  do  on  the  river,  any 
how?"  demanded  Curly.  "There's  simpler  ways  of 
committing  suicide." 

The  young  man  laughed.  "  Oh,  we're  some  more  fools 
trying  to  get  from  Green  River  to  Needles!  " 

"On  a  bet?"  asked  Mack. 

"Hardly!  On  a  job!  Geological  Survey!  Four  of 
us!  There  they  come!  Whoo  —  ee!  " 

He  staggered  to  his  feet,  as  another  boat  shot  around 
the  curve.  But  this  one  came  through  in  proper  style, 
right  side  up,  two  men  manning  the  oars  and  a  third  with 
a  steering  paddle.  With  an  answering  shout,  they  ran 
quickly  up  on  the  shore.  They  were  a  rough-bearded, 
overalled  lot,  young  men,  all  of  them. 

"  Gee  whiz,  Harden !  We  thought  you  were  finished !  " 
exclaimed  the  tallest  of  the  trio. 

"  I  would  have  been,  but  for  these  folks,"  replied 
Harden.  "Here,  let's  make  some  introductions!" 

They  were  stalwart  fellows.  Milton,  the  leader,  was 
sandy-haired  and  freckled,  a  University  of  California 
man.  Agnew  was  stocky  and  swarthy,  an  old  Princeton 
graduate  and  Forrester,  a  thin,  blonde  chap  had  worked 
in  New  York  City  before  he  joined  the  Geological  Sur 
vey.  They  were  astonished  by  this  meeting  in  the  Can 
yon,  but  delighted  beyond  measure.  They  had  been  on 
the  river  for  seven  months  and  up  to  this  time  had  met 
no  one  except  when  they  went  out  for  supplies. 

"  We  camped  up  above  those  rapids,  last  night,"  said 
Milton.  "  Of  course  we  didn't  know  of  this  spot.  We 
really  had  nothing  but  a  ledge,  up  there.  This  morning 
Harden  undertook  to  patch  his  boat,  with  this  result." 
He  nodded  toward  the  shivering  cast-a-way,  who  had 
crowded  himself  to  Na-che's  fire.  "  Have  you  folks  any 
objection  to  our  stopping  here  to  make  repairs?  " 
"  Lord,  no !  Glad  to  have  you !  "  said  Mack. 
Enoch  laughed.  "  Mack,  it's  no  use !  You  and  Curly 
are  doomed  to  take  on  guests  as  surely  as  a  dog  takes 
on  fleas.  They  started  out  alone,  Milton,  for  a  little 


THE  CLIFF  DWELLING  175 

vacation  prospecting  trip.  I  caught  them  a  few  days  out 
and  made  them  take  me  on.  Then  Miss  Allen  came 
along  last  night,  and  now  your  outfit !  I'm  sorry  for  you, 
Mack." 

"  I'll  try  to  live  through  it,"  grinned  Mack. 

"  Did  you  fellows  find  any  pay  gravel,  coming  down?  " 
asked  Curly. 

"  We  didn't  look  for  any,"  answered  Agnew.  "  But  a 
few  years  ago,  I  picked  this  out  of  the  river  bed." 

He  showed  Curly  a  nugget  as  large  as  a  pea.  "  Where 
the  devil  did  you  find  that?"  exclaimed  Curly,  eagerly. 

"  I  can  show  you  on  our  map,"  replied  Agnew. 

"  I'll  go  fifty-fifty  with  you,"  proffered  Curly.  "  Me 
to  do  all  the  work." 

"  No,  you  won't,"  laughed  Agnew.  "  Say,  old  man, 
I  put  in  four  years,  trying  to  make  money  out  of  the 
Colorado  and  I  swear,  the  only  real  cash  I've  ever  made 
on  it  has  been  the  magnificent  wages  the  Secretary  of 
the  Interior  allows  me.  I'll  keep  the  nugget.  You  can 
have  whatever  else  you  find  there.  Believe  me,  you'll 
earn  it,  before  you  get  it!  " 

"You're  foolish  but  I'm  on!  Mack,  when  shall  we 
move?  " 

"  I  want  to  know  a  lot  more  before  I  break  up  my 
happy  home."  Mack's  voice  was  dry.  "  In  the  mean 
time  you  fellows  make  yourselves  comfortable.  Come 
on,  Curly.  Let's  get  back  to  work !  " 

"  Mr.  Curly,"  said  Jonas,  "  will  you  let  me  see  that 
nugget?" 

"  Sure,  Jonas,  here  it  is !  " 

Jonas  turned  it  over  on  his  brown  palm.  "  You  mean 
to  say  you  pick  up  gold  like  that,  down  here?  " 

"  That's  what  I  did,"  replied  Agnew. 

"  Kin  any  one  do  it?  " 

"Yes,  sir!" 

"  How  come  it  everybody  ain't  down  here  doing  it 
right  now  ?  " 

"  The  going  is  pretty  stiff,"  said  Harden,  with  a  grin, 
glancing  at  his  steaming  legs. 


176         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  Boss,"  Jonas  turned  the  nugget  over  and  over,  "  let's 
have  a  try  at  these  ructions,  before  we  go  back !  " 

"Are  you  game  to  take  to  the  boats,  Jonas?"  asked 
Enoch. 

"  No,  boss,  we'll  just  go  over  the  hills,  like  Miss  Diana 
does.  For  the  Lord's  sake,  who'd  want  to  go  back 
to—" 

"Jonas,"  interrupted  Diana.  "If  you  and  Na-che 
will  put  together  a  lunch  for  us,  the  Judge  and  I  will  get 
started." 

"  I  didn't  quite  get  your  name,  sir,"  said  Milton  to 
Enoch. 

"  Just  Smith,"  called  Curly,  from  over  his  pan  of 
gravel.  "  Mr.  Just  Smith !  Judge,  for  short." 

"  Oh!  "  Milton  continued  to  stare  at  Enoch  in  a  puz 
zled  way.  "  I  beg  your  pardon !  Come  on,  Harden, 
you're  pretty  well  steamed  out.  Let's  go  back  and  see 
what  we  can  salvage,  while  Ag  and  Forr  begin  to  overhaul 
the  stuff  we've  already  pulled  out." 

Not  a  half  hour  later,  Enoch,  Diana  and  Na-che  were 
making  their  way  slowly  up  the  plateau  trail,  not  however, 
to  climb  up  the  old  trail  to  the  main  land.  They  turned 
midway  toward  their  right.  There  was  no  trail,  but 
Enoch  knew  the  way  by  the  distant  peaks.  They  trav 
eled  afoot,  single  file,  each  with  a  canteen,  a  little  packet 
of  food  and  Na-che  with  the  camera  tripod,  while  Enoch 
insisted  on  toting  the  camera  and  the  coil  of  rope.  The 
sun  was  hot  on  the  plateau  and  the  way  very  rough. 
They  climbed  constantly  over  ragged  boulders  and  cha 
otic  rock  heaps,  or  rounded  deep  fissures  that  cut  the 
plateau  like  spider  webs.  Muscular  and  in  good  form 
as  was  the  trio,  frequent  rests  were  necessary.  They 
had  one  mishap.  Na-che,  lagging  behind,  slipped  into  a 
fissure.  Enoch  and  Diana  blanched  at  her  sudden  scream 
and  ran  back  as  she  disappeared.  Mercifully  a  great 
rock  had  tumbled  into  the  crevice  some  time  before  and 
Na-che  landed  squarely  on  this,  six  feet  below  the  sur 
face.  When  Diana  and  Enoch  peered  over,  she  was 
sitting  calmly  on  the  rock,  still  clinging  to  the  tripod. 


THE  CLIFF  DWELLING  177 

"  I  lost  my  lunch!  "  she  grumbled  as  she  looked  up  at 
them. 

Diana  laughed.  "  You  may  have  mine !  Better  no 
lunch  than  no  Na-che.  Give  us  hold  of  the  end  of  the 
tripod,  honey,  and  we'll  help  you  out." 

A  few  moments  of  strenuous  scrambling  and  pulling 
and  Na-che  was  on  the  plateau  brushing  the  sand  from 
her  clothes. 

"  Sit  down  and  get  your  breath,  Na-che,"  said  Enoch. 

"I'm  fine!  I  don't  need  to  sit,"  answered  Na-che. 
"  Let's  get  along."  She  started  on  briskly. 

"  I  suppose  things  like  that  are  of  daily  occurrence!  " 
exclaimed  Enoch.  "  Miss  Allen,  don't  you  think  you 
could  be  more  careful!  " 

Again  Diana  laughed.  "  It  wasn't  I  who  slipped  into 
the  crevice !  " 

"  No,  but  I'll  wager  you've  had  many  an  accident." 

"  That's  where  part  of  the  fun  comes  in.  Why,  only 
yesterday  we  had  the  most  thrilling  escape.  We — " 

"  Please !     I  don't  want  to  hear  it !  "  protested  Enoch. 

"  Pshaw !  There's  no  more  daily  risk  here,  than  there 
is  in  the  streets  of  a  large  city." 

Enoch  grunted  and  followed  as  Diana  hurried  after 
Na-che.  The  course  now  led  along  the  edge  of  the 
plateau  which  here  hung  directly  above  the  river.  The 
water  twisted  far  below  like  a  sinuous  brown  ribbon. 
The  nooning  sky  was  bronze  blue  and  burning  hot.  The 
world  seemed  very  huge,  to  Enoch;  the  three  of  them, 
toiling  so  carefully  over  the  yellow  plateau,  very  small 
and  insignificant.  He  did  not  talk  much  during  the  rest 
intervals.  He  would  light  his  pipe  and  smoke  as  if  in 
physical  contentment,  but  his  deep  blue  eyes  were  burning 
and  somber  as  they  rested  on  the  vast  emptiness  about 
them.  Na-che  always  dozed  during  the  stops.  Diana, 
after  she  had  observed  the  look  in  Enoch's  eyes,  occupied 
herself  in  writing  up  her  note  book. 

It  was  just  noon  when  they  came  to  an  old  trail  which 
Enoch  believed  dropped  to  the  cliff  dwelling.  Before 
descending  it,  they  ate  their  lunch,  Enoch  and  Diana 


178         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

sharing  with  Na-che.  This  done,  they  began  to  work 
carefully  down  the  faint  old  trail.  For  ten  or  fifteen 
minutes,  they  wormed  zig-zag  downward,  the  angle  of 
descent  so  great  that  frequently  they  were  obliged  to  sit 
down  and  slide,  controlling  their  speed  by  clinging  to 
the  rocks  on  either  side.  They  could  not  see  the  cliff 
dwelling;  only  the  river  winding  so  remotely  below. 
But  at  the  end  of  the  fifteen  minutes  the  trail  stopped 
abruptly.  So  unexpectedly,  in  fact,  that  Enoch  clung 
to  a  rock  while  his  legs  dangled  over  the  abyss.  He 
shouted  to  the  others  to  wait  while  he  peered  dizzily 
below.  A  great  section  of  the  wall  had  broken  awa} 
and  the  trail  could  not  be  taken  up  again  until  a  sheer 
gap  of  twenty  feet  had  been  bridged. 

Diana  crept  close  behind  Enoch  and  peered  over  his 
shoulders. 

"If  we  tie  the  rope  to  this  pointed  rock,  I  think  we 
can  lower  ourselves,  don't  you?  "  he  asked. 

"  Easily!  "  agreed  Diana.     "  I'll  go  first." 

"  Well,  hardly !  I'll  go  first  and  Na-che  can  bring  up 
the  rear,  as  usual." 

They  knotted  the  rope  around  the  rock  and  Enoch 
and  Diana  quickly  and  easily  made  the  descent.  Na-che 
lowered  the  camera  and  tripod  to  them,  then  examined, 
with  a  sudden  exclamation,  the  rock  to  which  the  rope 
was  tied.  "  That  rock  will  give  way  any  minute,"  she 
cried.  "  Your  weight  has  cracked  it." 

Even  as  she  spoke,  the  rock  suddenly  tilted  and  slid, 
then  bounded  out  to  the  depths  below,  carrying  the  rope 
with  it.  For  a  moment  no  one  spoke,  then  Na-che,  her 
round  brown  face  wrinkled  with  amusement,  said, 

"  Almost  no  Na-che,  no  Diana,  no  Judge,  eh?  " 

"  Jove,  what  an  escape !  "  breathed  Enoch. 

"  Na-che,"  said  Diana,  "  you'll  just  have  to  return  to 
the  camp  for  another  rope.  You'd  better  ride  back  here. 
In  the  meantime,  the  Judge  and  I'll  explore  the  dwelling." 

Na-che  nodded  and  without  another  word,  disap 
peared.  Diana  turned  to  Enoch.  "  Lead  ahead, 
Judge!" 


THE  CLIFF  DWELLING  179 

The  trail  now  led  around  a  curve  in  the  wall.  Enoch 
edged  gingerly  beyond  this  and  paused.  The  trail  again 
was  broken,  but  they  were  in  full  view  of  the  cliff 
dwelling,  which  was  snuggled  in  an  inward  curve  of  the 
Canyon,  filling  entirely  a  gigantic  gap  in  the  gray  wall. 

Diana  exclaimed  over  its  mute  beauty.  "  I  must  see 
it!"  she  said.  "But  we  can't  bridge  this  gap  without 
more  ropes  and  more  people  to  help." 

"  It  looks  to  me,"  Enoch  spoke  with  a  sudden  smile, 
"  as  though  the  Lord  intended  me  to  have  a  few  moments 
alone  with  you !  " 

Diana  smiled  in  return.  "  It  does,  indeed,"  she  agreed. 
"  Let's  try  to  settle  ourselves  comfortably  here  in  view  of 
the  dwelling.  I  like  to  look  at  it.  We  can  hear  Na-che 
when  she  calls." 

The  trail  was  several  feet  wide  at  this  point.  Diana 
sat  down  on  a  rock,  her  back  to  the  wall,  clasping  one 
knee  with  her  brown  fingers.  For  a  little  while  Enoch 
stood  looking  from  the  dwelling  to  Diana,  then  far  out 
to  the  glowing  peaks  across  the  Canyon  to  the  north. 
Finally,  he  turned  to  silent  contemplation  of  the  lovely, 
slender  figure  against  the  wall.  Diana's  dignity,  her 
utter  sweetness,  the  something  quieting  and  steadying 
in  her  personality  never  had  seemed  more  pronounced 
to  Enoch  than  in  this  country  of  magnificent  heights  and 
depths. 

"  Well,"  said  Diana,  finally,  "  after  you've  finished 
your  inspection,  perhaps  you'll  sit  down  and  talk." 

Enoch  smiled  and  established  himself  beside  her.  He 
refilled  his  pipe,  lighted  it  and  laid  it  down.  "  Miss 
Allen,"  he  said  abruptly,  "you  saw  the  article  in  the 
Brown  papers?  " 

"  Yes,"  replied  Diana. 

"What  did  you  think  of  it?" 

"  I  thought  what  others  think,  that  Brown  is  an  un 
speakable  cur." 

"  I  can't  tell  you  how  keenly  I  feel  for  you  in  the  mat 
ter,  Miss  Allen.  I  would  have  given  anything  to  have 
saved  you  from  it." 


i8o          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  Would  you  ?  I'm  not  so  sure  that  I  would !  You 
see,  I'm  just  enough  of  a  hero  worshiper  to  be  proud  to 
have  my  name  coupled  in  friendship  with  that  of  a  great 
man." 

"  A  great  man !  "  repeated  Enoch  quietly,  yet  with  a 
bitterness  in  his  voice  that  wrung  Diana's  heart. 

"  Yes,  Mr.  Huntingdon,"  Diana's  voice  broke  a  little 
and  she  turned  her  head  away. 

The  utter  silence  of  the  Canyon  enveloped  them. 

At  last  Enoch  said,  "  You  have  a  big  soul,  Miss  Allen, 
but  you  shall  not  sacrifice  one  smallest  fragment  of  — 
of  your  perfection  for  me.  If  it  is  necessary  for  me  to 
kill  Brown,  I  shall  do  so." 

Diana  gasped,  "  Enoch !  " 

Enoch,  at  the  sound  of  his  name  on  her  lips,  touched 
her  hand  quickly  and  softly  with  his  own,  and  as  quickly 
drew  it  away,  jumped  to  his  feet  and  began  to  pace  the 
trail. 

"  Yes,  kill  him,  the  cur!  Diana,  he  did  not  even  leave 
me  a  mother  in  the  public  mind !  He  maligned  you. 
The  burdens  that  I  have  carried  for  all  the  years,  the 
horrors  that  I've  wrestled  with,  the  secret  shames  that 
I've  hidden,  he's  exposed  them  all  in  the  open  market 
place.  And  he  dragged  you  into  my  mire !  Diana,  each 
man  must  be  broken  in  a  different  way.  Some  are 
broken  by  money,  some  by  physical  fear,  some  by  spir 
itual  fear,  some — " 

Diana  interrupted.  "  Enoch,  are  you  a  friend  of 
mine?" 

Enoch  turned  his  tortured  eyes  to  hers.  "  I  shall 
never  tell  you  how  much  a  friend  I  am  to  you,  Diana. 
But  my  friendship  is  a  fact  you  may  draw  on  all  the 
days  of  your  life,  as  heavily  as  you  will." 

"  And  I  am  your  friend.  Though  I  know  you  so 
little,  no  friend  is  as  dear  to  me  as  you  are."  She  rose 
and  coming  to  his  side,  she  took  his  hand  in  both  of 
hers. 

"  Dear  Enoch,  what  a  man  like  Brown  can  say  of  you 
in  an  article  or  two.  has  no  permanent  weight  with  the 


THE  CLIFF  DWELLING  181 

public.  Scurrilous  stories  of  that  type  kill  themselves  by 
their  very  scurrility.  No  matter  how  eagerly  the  public 
may  lap  up  the  stuff,  it  cannot  really  heed  it  for, 
Enoch,  America  knows  you  and  your  service.  America 
loves  you.  Brown  cannot  dislodge  you  by  slandering 
your  mother.  The  real  importance  and  danger  of  that 
story  lies  in  its  reaction  on  you.  I  —  I  could  not  help 
recalling  the  story  of  that  tormented,  red-haired  boy  who 
went  down  Bright  Angel  trail  with  my  father  and  I  had 
to  come  to  help  him,  if  I  could.  O  Enoch,  if  the  Can 
yon  could  only,  once  more,  wipe  Luigi  Guiseppi  out  of 
your  life!  " 

Enoch  watched  Diana's  wide  gray  eyes  with  a  look  of 
painful  eagerness. 

"  Nothing  matters,  nothing  can  matter,  Enoch,  except 
that  you  find  the  strength  in  the  Canyon  to  go  back  to 
your  work  and  that  you  leave  Brown  alone.  That  is 
what  I  want  to  demand  of  your  friendship,  that  you 
promise  me  to  do  those  two  things." 

"  I  shall  go  back,  of  course,"  replied  Enoch,  gravely. 
"  I  had  no  thought  of  doing  otherwise.  But  about 
Brown,  I  cannot  promise." 

"  Then  will  you  agree  not  to  go  back  until  you  have 
talked  to  me  again?  " 

"  Again  ?  But  I  expect  to  talk  to  you  many  times, 
Diana !  You  are  not  going  away,  are  you  ?  " 

Diana  nodded.  "  I'm  using  another  person's  money 
and  I  must  get  on,  to-morrow,  with  the  work  I  agreed 
to  do.  Promise  me,  Enoch." 

"  But,  Diana  —  O  Diana !  Diana !  Let  me  go  with 
you !  " 

Diana  turned  to  face  the  dwelling.  "  The  Canyon  can 
do  more  for  you  than  I  can,  Enoch.  But  we'll  meet, 
say  at  El  Tovar  before  you  go  back  to  Washington. 
Promise  me,  Enoch." 

"Of  course,  I  promise.  But,  Diana,  how  can  I  let 
you  go!  " 

Enoch  put  his  arm  across  Diana's  shoulders  and  stood 
beside  her,  staring  at  the  silent,  deserted  dwelling.  It 


182          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

seemed  to  Enoch,  standing  so,  that  this  was  the  sweetest 
and  saddest  moment  of  his  life;  saddest  because  he  felt 
that  in  nothing  more  than  friendship  must  he  ever  touch 
her  hand  with  his :  sweetest  because  for  the  first  time  in 
his  history  he  was  beginning  to  understand  the  depth 
and  beauty  that  can  exist  in  a  friendship  between  a  man 
and  a  woman. 

"  Diana,"  he  said  at  last,  "  you  may  take  yourself 
away  from  me,  but  nevertheless,  I  shall  carry  with  me 
the  thought  of  your  loveliness,  like  a  rod  and  a  staff  to 
sustain  me." 

When  Diana  turned  to  look  at  him  there  were  tears 
in  her  eyes. 

"  I've  always  been  glad  that  I  was  not  ugly,"  she  said, 
"  but  now," —  smiling  through  wet  lashes  — "  you  make 
me  proud  of  it,  though  I  can't  see  how  the  thought  of 
it  can  — " 

She  paused  and  Enoch  went  on  eagerly :  "  It's  a 
seamy,  rough  world,  Diana,  all  higgledy-piggledy.  The 
beautiful  souls  are  misplaced  in  ugly  carcasses  and  the 
ugly  souls  in  beautiful.  Those  who  might  be  friends 
and  lovers  too  often  meet  only  to  grieve  that  it  is  too 
late  for  their  joy.  In  such  a  world,  when  one  beholds 
a  body  that  nature  has  chiseled  and  molded  and  polished 
to  loveliness  like  yours  and  discovers  that  that  loveliness 
is  a  true  index  of  the  intelligence  and  fineness  of  the  char 
acter  dwelling  in  the  body  —  well,  Diana,  it  gives  one  a 
new  thought  about  God.  It  does,  indeed!  " 

"  Enoch,  I  don't  deserve  it !  I  truly  don't !  "  looking 
at  him  with  that  curious  mingling  of  tenderness  and 
courtesy  and  understanding  in  her  wide  eyes  that  made 
Diana  unique. 

Enoch  only  smiled  and  again  silence  fell  between  them. 
Finally,  Enoch  said, 

"  I  would  like  to  go  down  the  river  with  Milton  and 
his  crowd." 

Diana's  voice  was  startled.  "O  no,  Enoch!  It's  a 
frightfully  dangerous  trip!  You  risk  your  life  every 
moment." 


THE  CLIFF  DWELLING  183 

"  I  want  to  risk  my  life,"  returned  Enoch.  "  I  want 
a  real  man's  adventure.  I've  got  a  battle  inside  of  me 
to  fight  that  will  rend  me  unless  I  have  one  of  equal 
proportions  to  fight,  externally." 

A  loud  halloo  sounded  from  above.  "  There's  Na- 
che!"  exclaimed  Diana.  "We'll  talk  this  over  later, 
Enoch." 

But  Enoch  shook  his  head.  "  No,  Diana,  please ! 
I've  dreamed  all  my  life  of  this  canyon  trip.  You 
mustn't  dissuade  me.  Milton  will  be  starting  to-morrow 
and  I'm  going  to  crowd  in,  somehow." 

Na-che  called  again.  Diana  turned  silently  and  in 
silence  they  returned  to  the  end  of  the  broken  trail. 
Here  they  explained  to  Na-che  the  conditions  of  the 
trail  beyond  and  that  they  had  determined  to  give  up  the 
expedition  for  that  day. 

"  I  doubt  if  I  try  to  investigate  it  at  all,  on  this  trip," 
said  Diana,  when  they  had  made  the  difficult  ascent  to 
the  plateau.  "  I  really  ought  to  get  into  the  Hopi  coun 
try.  My  conscience  is  troubling  me." 

Na-che  looked  disappointed.  "  That  is  a  good  camp, 
by  the  river,"  she  said.  "  But  maybe,"  eagerly,  "  the 
Judge  and  Jonas  will  come  with  us." 

"  You  like  Jonas,  don't  you,  Na-che?"  asked  Enoch. 

The  Indian  woman  laughed  and  tossed  her  head,  but 
did  not  answer. 

It  was  only  four  o'clock  when  they  reached  camp,  but 
already  dusk  was  settling  in  the  Canyon.  A  good  fire 
was  going  in  front  of  the  cave  and  Jonas  was  guarding 
his  stew  which  simmered  over  a  smaller  blaze  near 
Diana's  tent.  Na-che  lifted  the  lid  of  the  kettle,  sniffed 
and  turned  away  with  a  shrug  of  her  shoulders. 

"  What's  troubling  you,  woman?  "  demanded  Jonas. 

"  I  thought  you  was  making  stew,"  replied  Na-che. 

"  Oh,  you  did !     Well,  what  do  you  think  now  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I  guess  you're  just  boiling  the  mud  out  of  the 
river  water.  You  give  me  the  kettle  and  I'll  show  you 
how  to  make  rabbit  stew." 

"  I'll  give  you  a  piece  of  my  mind,  Miss  Na-che,  that's 


184         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

what  I'll  give  you.  How  come  you  to  think  you  can 
sass  a  Washington  man,  huh,  a  government  man,  huh? 
How  come  you  suppose  I  don't  know  women,  huh? 
Why  child,  I  was  taking  girls  to  fancy  dress  balls  when 
you  Indians  was  still  wearing  nothing  but  strings.  I 
was  — " 

"  O  Jonas !  "  called  Enoch,  who  had  been  standing  by 
the  cave  fire,  an  amused  auditor  of  Jonas'  tirade ;  "  treat 
Na-che  gently.  She's  leaving  to-morrow." 

"  Leaving?     Don't  we  go,  too,  boss?  "  asked  Jonas. 

"  No,  I'm  going  to  see  if  I  can  go  down  river  with 
the  boats." 

Curly,  who  was  cleaning  up  in  the  cave,  came  out, 
comb  in  hand. 

"  You  haven't  gone  crazy,  have  you,  Judge  ?  " 

"  No  more  than  usual,  Curly.  How  about  it,  Mil 
ton  ?  "  as  that  sturdy  personage  came  up  from  the  river 
and  dropped  wearily  down  by  the  fire.  "  Don't  you 
need  another  man  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Judge,  we're  two  short.  One  of  our  fellows 
broke  an  arm  a  week  ago  and  we  had  to  send  him  out, 
with  another  chap  to  help  him." 

"  Will  you  let  me  work  my  passage  as  far  as  Bright 
Angel?"  asked  Enoch. 

Milton  scowled  thoughtfully.  "  It's  a  god-awful  job. 
You  realize  that,  do  you  ?  " 

Enoch  nodded.  Milton  turned  to  Harden  and  the 
other  two  men.  "What  do  you  fellows  think?" 

"  We're  awful  short-handed,"  replied  Harden,  cau 
tiously.  "Can  you  swim,  Judge?" 

"  I'm  a  strong  swimmer." 

"  But  gee  willikums,  Judge,  what're  we  going  to  do 
without  you?"  demanded  Mack.  "Ain't  that  just  the 
usual  luck  ?  You  get  a  cook  trained  and  off  he  goes !  " 

"  And  how  about  that  deal  of  ours,  Smith  ?  "  asked 
Curly,  in  a  low  voice. 

"  I  haven't  forgotten  it  for  a  moment,  Curly,"  Enoch 
replied.  "  I'll  talk  to  you  about  it,  to-night.  How  about 
it,  Milton?" 


THE  CLIFF  DWELLING  185 

"  Can  you  stand  rotten  hard  luck  without  belly 
aching?"  asked  Agnew. 

"  Yes,  he  can !  "  exclaimed  Mack,  "  but  he's  a  darn 
fool  to  think  of  going.  It's  as  risky  as  the  devil  and 
nobody  that's  got  a  family  dependent  on  'em  ought  to 
consider  it  for  a  moment." 

"  I  have  no  one,"  said  Enoch  quietly.  "  And  I'm 
strong  and  hard  as  nails." 

"  What  fool  ever  sent  you  folks  out?  "  asked  Curly. 

"  It's  not  a  fool  trip,  really,"  expostulated  Milton. 
"  It's  very  necessary  for  a  good  many  reasons  that  the 
government  have  more  accurate  geographical  and  geo 
logical  knowledge  of  this  section." 

"What  part  of  the  government  do  you  work  for?" 
asked  Mack. 

"  The  Geological  Survey.  It's  a  bureau  in  the  De 
partment  of  the  Interior." 

"  Oh,  then  Huntingdon's  your  Big  Boss !  "  exclaimed 
Mack.  "  Do  you  know  him?  " 

"  Never  met  him,"  replied  Milton.  "  He  doesn't  know 
the  small  fry  in  his  department." 

"  He  sits  in  Washington  and  gets  the  glory  while  you 
guys  do  the  work,  eh!  "  said  Curly. 

"  I  don't  think  you  should  put  it  that  way,  Curly," 
protested  Mack.  "  Enoch  Huntingdon's  a  big  man  and 
he's  done  more  real  solid  work  for  his  country  than  any 
man  in  Washington  to-day  and  I'll  bet  you  on  it." 

"  Right  you  are !  "  exclaimed  Forrester.  "  My  oldest 
brother  was  in  college  with  Huntingdon.  Says  he  was  a 
good  fellow,  a  brilliant  student  and  even  then  he  could 
make  a  speech  that  would  break  your  heart.  His  one 
vice  was  gambling.  He — " 

"  My  father  knew  Huntingdon !  "  Diana  spoke  quickly. 
"  He  knew  him  when  he  was  a  long-legged,  red-headed 
boy  of  fourteen.  My  father  was  his  guide  down  Bright 
Angel  trail.  Dad  always  said  that  he  never  met  as  in 
teresting  a  human  being  as  that  boy." 

"  Queer  thing  about  personal  charm,"  contributed  Ag 
new.  "  I  heard  Huntingdon  make  one  of  his  grea/ 


186          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

speeches  when  he  was  Police  Commissioner.  I  was  just 
a  little  kid  and  he  was  a  big,  homely,  red-headed  chap, 
but  I  remember  how  my  kid  heart  warmed  to  him  and 
how  T  wished  I  could  get  up  on  the  stage  and  get  to  know 
him." 

"So  he  was  a  gambler,  was  he?"  Curly  spoke  in  a 
musing  voice.  "Well,  if  he  was  once,  he  is  now.  It's 
a  worse  vice  than  drink." 

"  How  come  you  say  that,  Mr.  Curly  ?  "  demanded 
Jonas. 

"  In  the  meantime,"  interrupted  Enoch,  gruffly,  "  how 
about  my  trip  down  the  Canyon  ?  " 

"  Well,"  replied  Milton,  "  if  you  go  at  it  with  your 
eyes  open,  I  don't  see  why  you  can't  try  it  as  far  as 
Grant's  Crossing.  That's  seventy-five  miles  west  of 
here.  Barring  accidents,  we  should  reach  there  in  a 
week,  cleaning  up  the  survey  as  we  go  along.  If  you 
live  to  reach  there,  you  can  either  go  out  or  come  along, 
as  you  wish.  But  understand  that  from  the  time  we 
leave  here  till  we  reach  Grant's  Crossing,  there's  no  way 
out  of  the  Canyon,  at  least  as  far  as  the  maps  indicate." 

"  Say,  the  placer  where  I  found  my  nugget  is  just 
above  Grant's!"  exclaimed  Harden.  "Why  don't  you 
placer  fans  start  on  west  and  we'll  all  try  to  meet  there 
in  a  week's  time.  I  couldn't  tell  Field  where  it  was  in 
a  hundred  years." 

"  Suits  me !  "  exclaimed  Curly. 

"  Me  too !  "  echoed  Mack. 

"  Then,"  said  Enoch,  "  will  you  take  Jonas  along  as 
cook,  Mack?  " 

"You  bet!"  cried  Mack. 

"Does  that  suit  you,  Jonas?"  asked  Enoch. 

"  No,  boss,  it  don't  suit  me.  I've  gotta  go  with  you. 
I  ain't  never  going  to  live  through  it,  but  I'll  die  praying." 

A  shout  went  up  of  laughter  and  expostulation,  but 
Jonas,  though  grim  with  terror,  was  entirely  unmoved. 
Nothing,  not  even  mortal  horror  of  the  Colorado  could 
break  his  determination  never  to  be  separated  from 


THE  CLIFF  DWELLING  187 

Enoch  again.  His  agitation  was  so  deep  and  so  obvious 
that  Enoch  and  Milton  finally  gave  in  to  him. 

"  All  right !  "  said  Milton.  "  A  daylight  start  will 
about  suit  us  all,  I  guess.  I  don't  think  I  can  give  you 
much  previous  instruction,  Judge,  that  will  help  you. 
We'll  put  Jonas  in  Harden's  boat  and  you  in  mine.  You 
must  wear  your  life  preserver  all  the  time  that  we  are 
on  the  water.  When  we  are  in  the  boat,  do  as  I  tell  you, 
instantly,  and  you'll  soon  pick  up  what  small  technique 
we  have.  It's  mostly  horse  sense  and  brute  strength  that 
we  use.  No  two  rapids  are  alike  and  the  portages  are 
nearly  all  difficult  beyond  words." 

"  My  Gawd !  "  muttered  Jonas. 

"  You  go  over  to  the  Hopi  country  with  us,"  said 
Na-che,  softly. 

"  I  dassen't  do  it !  "  groaned  Jonas.  "  You'll  have  to 
serve  that  stew,  Na-che.  My  nerves  is  just  too  upset. 
I  gotta  go  off  and  sit  down  somewhere." 

"  Don't  you  worry,''  whispered  Na-che,  "  I'll  give  you 
a  Navajo  charm.  You  can't  drown  if  you  wear  it." 

Jonas'  black  face  grew  less  tense.  "  Honest,  Na- 
che?" 

Na-che  nodded  emphatically. 

"  Well,"  said  Jonas,  "  I  had  a  warming  of  my  heart 
to  you  the  minute  I  laid  eyes  on  you,  up  there  at  the 
Grand  Canyon.  Any  woman  as  handsome  as  you  is, 
Na-che,  is  bound  to  be  a  comfort  to  a  man  in  his  hours 
of  trouble." 

Again  Na/-che  nodded  and  began  to  dish  the  stew, 
which  came  quite  up  to  Jonas'  estimate  of  it.  After 
supper,  the  big  fire  was  replenished  and  Mack  produced 
a  deck  of  cards. 

"  Who  said  draw-poker?  "  he  inquired. 

"  Most  any  of  our  crowd  will  shout,"  said  Agnew. 

"  Judge  ?  "  Mack  looked  at  Enoch,  who  was  sitting  be 
fore  the  fire,  arms  clasped  about  his  knees. 

Enoch  pulled  his  pipe  out  of  his  mouth  to  answer. 
"  No!  "  with  a  look  of  repugnance  that  caused  Milton  to 


i88          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

exclaim,    "  Got    conscientious    scruples    against    cards, 
Judge?" 

"  Yes,  but  don't  stop  your  game  for  me,"  replied 
Enoch,  harshly.  Then  his  voice  softened.  "  Miss  Allen, 
the  moon  is  shining,  up  on  the  plateau.  While  these 
chaps  play,  will  you  take  a  walk  with  me  ?  " 

"  I'd  like  to  very  much !  "  Diana  spoke  quickly. 

"  Well,  don't  be  gone  over  an  hour,  children,"  said 
Curly.  "  Cards  don't  draw  me  like  a  good  gab  round 
the  fire.  And  Diana's  our  best  gabber." 

"  An  hour's  the  bargain  then,"  said  Enoch.  "  Come 
along,  Miss  Allen !  " 

It  was,  indeed,  glorious  moonlight  on  the  plateau.  The 
two  did  not  speak  until  they  reached  the  upper  level,  then 
Enoch  laughed. 

"  Jove!  This  is  the  greatest  luck  a  game  of  cards  ever 
brought  me!  Think,  Diana,  three  days  ago  I  was  fight 
ing  my  despair  at  the  thought  that  I  must  never  see  you 
again  and  that  you  despised  me.  And  here  I  am,  with 
moonlight  and  you  and  a  whole  hour.  Are  you  a  little 
bit  glad,  Diana?" 

"  A  little  bit!  I'd  be  gladder  if  I  weren't  so  disturbed 
at  the  thought  of  the  trip  you  are  to  begin  to-morrow!  " 

"  Nonsense,  Diana !  I'm  learning  more  about  my  own 
Department  every  day.  Aren't  they  a  fine  lot  of  fellows? 
Milton  scares  me  to  death.  I  don't  doubt  for  a  moment 
that  if  he  tells  me  to  dash  to  destruction  in  a  whirlpool, 
I  shall  do  so.  There's  a  chap  that  could  exact  obedience 
from  a  mule.  I'll  look  up  his  record  when  I  get  back 
to  Washington." 

"  Shall  you  reveal  your  identity  before  you  leave 
them?"  asked  Diana. 

"  No,  certainly  not !  Not  for  worlds  would  I  have 
them  know  who  I  am.  And  now  tell  me,  Diana,  just 
what  are  your  plans?  " 

"  Oh,  nothing  at  all  exciting !  I  am  going  to  make 
some  studies  of  Indian  children's  games.  They  are  pic 
turesque  and  ethnologically,  very  interesting.  I  shall 
come  home  across  the  Painted  Desert  and  take  some  pic- 


THE  CLIFF  DWELLING  189 

tures  in  color.  t  My  adventures  will  be  very  mild  com 
pared  with  yours." 

"  And  you  and  Na-che  will  be  quite  alone,  out  in  this 
trackless  country!  I  shall  worry  about  you,  Diana.'' 

Diana  laughed.  "  Enoch,  you  have  no  idea  of  what 
you  are  undertaking!  You'll  have  no  time  to  give  me 
a  thought.  For  a  week  you're  going  to  struggle  as  you 
never  did  before  to  keep  breath  in  your  body." 

"  Oh,  it'll  not  be  that  bad!  "  exclaimed  Enoch.  "  Are 
you  cold,  Diana?  I  thought  you  shivered.  What  a 
strange,  ghostlike  country  it  is!  It  would  be  horrible 
up  here  alone,  wouldn't  it!  " 

They  paused  to  gaze  out  over  the  fantastic  landscape. 

In  the  gray  light  the  strangely  weathered  mesas  \vere 
ruined  castles,  stupendous  in  bulk ;  the  mighty  buttes  and 
crumbled  peaks  were  colossal  cities  overthrown  by  the 
cataclysm  of  time.  It  seemed  to  Enoch,  that  nowhere 
else  in  the  world  could  one  behold  such  epic  loneliness. 
The  excitement  that  had  buoyed  him  up  since  Diana's 
arrival  suddenly  departed,  and  his  life  with  all  its  ugly 
facts  was  vividly  in  his  consciousness  again. 

"  Diana,"  he  said,  abruptly,  "  when  you  were  talking 
to  me  this  afternoon,  you  spoke  of  the  Brown  matter  in 
the  plural.  Was  there  more  than  one  article  about  me  ?  " 

Diana  turned  her  tender  eyes  to  Enoch's.  "  Let's  not 
spoil  this  beautiful  evening,"  she  pleaded. 

"  I  don't  want  to  bother  you,  Diana.  Just  tell  me  the 
facts  and  we'll  drop  it." 

"  I'd  rather  not  talk  about  it,"  replied  Diana. 

"  Please,  Diana !  Whatever  fight  I  have  down  here, 
whatever  conclusion  I  reach,  I  want  to  work  with  my 
eyes  open,  so  that  my  decisions  shall  be  final.  I  don't 
want  to  have  to  revamp  and  revise  when  I  get  out." 

"  As  far  as  I  know,"  said  Diana,  in  a  low  voice,  "  there 
was  but  one  other  reference  to  the  matter.  The  day 
after  the  first  article  appeared,  Brown  published  a  photo 
graph  of  you  and  me  in  front  of  a  Johnstown  lunch  place. 
There  was  a  long  caption,  which  said  that  you  had  always 
been  proud  that  you  were  slum-reared  and  a  woman  hater. 


igo          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

That  you  had  persisted  in  keeping  some  of  your  early 
habits,  perhaps  out  of  bravado.  That  Miss  Allen  was  an 
intimate  friend,  the  only  woman  friend  you  had  made 
and  kept.  That  was  all." 

"  All !  "  echoed  Enoch.  The  pale,  silver  landscape 
danced  in  a  crimson  mist  before  him.  He  stood,  clench 
ing  and  unclenching  his  fists,  breathing  rapidly. 

"  Oh,  Enoch !  Enoch !  Since  you  had  to  know,  it  was 
better  for  you  to  know  from  me  than  any  one  else. 
And  as  far  as  I  am  concerned,  as  I  told  you  before,  I'm 
only  amused.  It's  only  for  the  reaction  on  you  that  I'm 
troubled." 

"  You  mustn't  be  troubled,  Diana,"  said  Enoch,  huskily. 
"  But  I'd  be  less  than  a  man,  if  I  didn't  pay  that  yellow 
cur  up.  You  see  that,  don't  you?  " 

"  A  Dutch  family  I  have  heard  of  has  this  family 
motto :  '  Eagles  do  not  see  flies.' ' 

Enoch  gave  a  dry,  mirthless  laugh.  For  a  long  time 
they  tramped  in  silence.  Then  Diana-  said,  "  We've  been 
out  half  an  hour,  Enoch." 

Enoch  turned  at  once,  taking  Diana's  hand  as  he  did 
so.  He  did  not  release  it  until  they  had  reached  the  edge 
of  the  trail  and  the  sound  of  men's  voices  floated  up  to 
them.  Then  taking  off  his  hat,  he  lifted  the  slender 
fingers  to  his  lips.  "  This  is  our  real  good-by,  Diana, 
for  we'll  not  be  alone,  again.  If  anything  should  happen 
to  me,  I  want  you  to  have  my  diary,  if  they  save  it. 
I'll  have  it  with  me,  on  the  trip." 

Diana's  lips  quivered.  "  God  keep  you,  Enoch,  and 
help  you."  Then  she  turned  and  led  the  way  to  the 
cave. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE   EXPEDITION    BEGINS 

"After  all,  there  is  a  place  still  untouched  by  hu 
manity,  where  skies  are  unmarred  and  the  way  leads 
through  uncharted  beauty.  When  I  have  earned  the 
right,  I  shall  go  there  again." 

—  Enoch's  Diary. 

BEFORE  dawn  the  camp  fires  were  lighted  and  the 
various  breakfasts  were  in  preparation.  When 
these  had  been  eaten  there  was  light  from  the  pale  sky 
above  by  which  to  complete  the  packing  of  the  boats. 

These  were  strongly  built,  wooden  skiffs  with  three 
water  tight  compartments  in  each;  one  amidships,  one 
fore  and  one  aft,  with  decks  flush  with  the  gunwales. 
There  was  room  between  the  middle  and  end  compart 
ments  for  the  oarsmen  to  sit.  The  man  who  worked  the 
steersman's  oar  sat  on  the  rear  compartment.  In  these 
compartments  were  packed  all  the  dunnage,  clothing, 
food,  tools,  surveying  and  geological  instruments  and 
cameras.  Each  man  was  allowed  about  fifty  pounds  of 
personal  luggage.  Everything  that  water  could  hurt  was 
packed  in  rubber  bags. 

Milton  was  troubled  when  he  found  that  Enoch  had 
no  change  of  shoes. 

"  You'll  reach  camp  each  night,"  said  he,  "  soaked  to 
the  skin.  You  must  have  warm,  dry  clothing  to  change 
to.  Shoes  are  especially  important.  Jonas  must  have 
them,  too." 

"How  about  Indian  moccasins,  Mr.  Milton?"  asked 
Jonas.  "  I  bought  three  pairs  while  I  was  with  Miss 
Diana." 

"  Well,  they're  better  than  nothing,"  grumbled  Milton. 
"Are  you  ready,  Harden?" 

"Aye!  Aye!  sir!"  said  Harden,  pulling  his  belt  in 
tightly.  "  Are  you  all  set,  Ag  and  Jonas?  " 

"  All  set,  Harden,"  Agnew  picked  up  his  oar.  "  Are 

IQI 


192          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

you  ready,  Matey  ?  "  to  Jonas,  who  was  saying  good-by 
in  a  whisper  to  Na-che. 

"  I'm  as  ready  as  I'll  ever  be,  Mr.  Agnew,"  groaned 
Jonas.  "  Good-by,  everybody !  "  stepping  gingerly  into 
the  boat. 

"  All  aboard  then,  Judge  and  Forr,"  cried  Milton. 
"  I'll  shove  off." 

"  Good-by,  Diana !  Good-by,  Curly  and  Mack ! " 
Enoch  waved  his  hand  and  took  his  place,  and  the  racing 
water  seized  the  boats.  Hardly  had  Enoch  turned  to 
look  once  more  at  the  four  watching  on  the  beach,  when 
the  boats  shot  round  the  curving  western  wall.  For  the 
first  half  hour,  the  water  was  smooth  and  swift,  sweep 
ing  between  walls  that  were  abrupt  and  verdureless  and 
offered  not  so  much  as  a  finger  hold  for  a  landing  place. 

Enoch,  following  instruction  did  not  try  to  row,  at 
first.  He  sat  quietly  watching  the  swift  changing 
scenery,  feeling  awkward  and  a  little  helpless  in  his  life 
preserver. 

"  We're  due,  sometime  this  morning,  to  strike  some 
pretty  stiff  cataracts,"  said  Milton,  "  but  the  records 
show  that  we  can  shoot  most  of  them.  Keep  in  to  the 
left  wall,  Forr,  I  want  to  squint  at  that  bend  in  the 
strata." 

They  swung  across  the  stream,  and  as  they  did  so 
they  caught  a  glimpse  of  Jonas.  He  was  crouched  in 
the  bottom  of  the  boat,  his  eyes  rolling  above  his  life 
preserver. 

"  Didn't  Na-che  give  you  that  Navaho  charm,  Jonas?  " 
called  Forrester. 

"  It'll  take  more  than  a  charm  to  help  poor  old  Jonas," 
said  Enoch.  "  I  really  think  he'll  like  it  in  a  day  or  so. 
He's  got  good  pluck." 

"  He's  only  showing  what  all  of  us  felt  on  our  maiden 
trip,"  chuckled  Milton.  Then  he  added,  quickly,  "  Lis 
ten,  Forr!" 

Above  the  splash  of  the  oars  and  the  swift  rush  of  th* 
river  rose  a  sound  like  the  far  roar  of  street  traffic. 

"  Our  little  vacation  is  over,"  commented  Forrester, 


THE  EXPEDITION  BEGINS  193 

"  Easy  now,  Forr !  We'll  land  for  observation  before 
we  tackle  a  racket  like  that.  Let  the  current  carry  us. 
Be  ready  to  back  water  when  I  shout."  He  raised  his 
voice.  "  Harden,  don't  follow  too  closely !  You  know 
your  failing!  " 

They  rounded  a  curving  wall,  the  current  carrying 
them,  Milton  said,  at  least  ten  miles  an  hour.  A  short 
distance  now,  and  they  saw  spray  breaking  high  in  the 
middle  of  the  stream. 

"  We'll  land  here,"  said  Milton,  steering  to  a  great 
pile  of  bowlders  against  the  right  wall. 

Enoch  watched  with  keen  interest  the  preparation  for 
the  descent.  First  sticks  were  thrown  into  the  water, 
to  catch  the  trend  of  the  main  current.  Milton  pointed 
out  to  Enoch  that  if  the  stick  were  deflected  against  one 
wall  or  another,  great  care  had  to  be  exercised  to  prevent 
the  boats  being  dashed  against  the  walls  in  like  manner. 
But,  he  said,  if  the  current  seemed  to  run  a  fairly  un 
obstructed  course,  it  was  hopeful  that  the  boats  would  go 
through.  There  were  a  number  of  rocks  protruding 
from  the  water,  but  the  current  appeared  to  round  these 
cleanly  and  Milton  gave  the  order  to  proceed.  They 
worked  back  upstream  a  short  distance  so  as  to  catch  the 
current  straight  prow  on,  and  in  a  moment  they  were 
dashing  through  a  sea  of  roaring  waves  that  drenched 
them  to  the  skin. 

Forrester  and  Milton  steered  a  zigzag  course  about  the 
menacing  rocks,  grazing  and  bumping  them  now  and 
again,  but  emerging  finally,  without  accident,  in  quieter 
waters.  Here  they  hugged  the  shore  and  waited  for 
Harden's  boat,  the  Mary,  to  come  down.  And  come  it 
did,  balancing  uncannily  on  the  top  of  the  waves,  with 
Jonas'  yells  sounding  even  above  the  uproar  of  the 
waters. 

"  More  of  it  below,  Harden,"  said  Milton  as  the  Mary 
shot  alongside. 

More  indeed !  It  seemed  to  Enoch  that  the  first  rapid 
was  child's  play  to  the  one  that  followed.  The  jutting 
rocks  were  more  frequent.  The  fall  greater.  The  waves 


194          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

more  menacing.  But  they  shot  it  safely  until  they 
reached  its  foot  and  there  an  eddy  caught  them  and  car 
ried  them  back  upstream  in  spite  of  all  that  could  be 
done.  Enoch  seized  the  oars  that  were  in  readiness  be 
side  him  and  pulled  with  all  his  might  but  to  no  avail. 
And  suddenly  the  Mary  rushed  out  of  the  mist  striking 
them  fairly  amidship.  The  Ida  half  turned  over,  but 
righted  herself  and  the  Mary  darted  off.  Milton  shouted 
hoarsely,  Forrester  and  Enoch  obeyed  blindly  and  after 
what  seemed  to  Enoch  an  endless  struggle,  spray  and 
waves  suddenly  ceased  and  they  found  themselves  in 
quieter  waters  where  the  Mary  awaited  them. 

Harden  and  Agnew  were  laughing.  "  Thought  you 
knew  an  eddy  when  you  saw  one,  Milt !  "  cried  Agnew. 

"  I  don't  know  anything !  "  grinned  Milton,  "  except 
that  Jonas  is  going  to  be  too  scared  to  cook." 

"If  ever  I  get  to  land,"  retorted  Jonas,  "  I'll  cook  some 
thing  for  a  thanksgiving  to  the  Lord  that  you  all  will 
never  forget." 

They  examined  the  next  fall  and  passed  through  it  suc 
cessfully.  The  Canyon  was  widening  now  and  an  occa 
sional  cedar  tree  could  be  seen.  Enoch  was  vaguely  con 
scious,  too,  that  the  colors  of  the  walls  were  more  bril 
liant.  But  the  ardors  of  the  rapids  gave  small  oppor 
tunity  for  aesthetic  observations. 

Curiously  enough,  after  the  passage  of  this  last  fall  the 
waters  did  not  subside  in  speed,  though  the  waves  disap 
peared.  The  spray  of  another  fall  was  to  be  seen  be 
yond. 

"  We  mustn't  risk  shooting  her  without  observation," 
cried  Milton.  "  Make  for  that  spit  of  sand  with  the 
cedars  on  it,  fellows." 

Enoch  and  Forrester  put  their  backs  into  their  strokes 
in  their  endeavor  to  guide  the  Ida  to  the  place  indicated, 
which  appeared  to  be  the  one  available  landing  spot.  But 
the  current  carried  them  at  such  velocity  that  when  within 
half  a  dozen  feet  of  the  shore  it  seemed  impossible  to 
stop  and  make  the  landing. 

"  Overboard !  "  shouted  Milton. 


THE  EXPEDITION  BEGINS  195 

All  three  plunged  into  the  water,  clinging  to  the  gun 
wale.  The  water  was  waist  deep.  For  a  few  feet  boat 
and  men  were  dragged  onward.  Then  they  found  se 
cure  foothold  on  the  rocky  river  bottom  and,  with  huge 
effort,  beached  the  Ida.  Scarcely  was  this  done,  when 
the  Mary  hove  in  view  and  with  Milton  shouting  direc 
tions,  they  rushed  once  more  into  the  current  to  help  with 
the  landing. 

"  The  cook  and  the  bacon  both  are  in  your  boat,  Har 
den  !  "  chuckled  Milton,  "  or  you'd  be  getting  no  such 
delicate  attentions  from  the  Ida." 

Jonas  crawled  stiffly  out  of  his  compartment.  Enoch 
began  preparation  for  a  fire,  while  the  others  busied 
themselves  with  notes  and  observations.  It  was  90°  on 
the  little  sandy  beach  and  the  wet  clothing  was  not  chill 
ing.  They  ate  enormously  of  Jonas's  dinner,  then  the 
Survey  men  scattered  to  their  work  for  an  hour  or  so, 
while  Enoch  explored  the  region.  There  was  no  getting 
to  the  top  of  the  walls,  so  he  contented  himself  with  crawl 
ing  gingerly  over  the  rocks  to  a  point  where  a  little  spring 
bubbled  out  of  a  narrow  cave  opening.  Peering  through 
this,  Enoch  saw  that  it  was  dimly  lighted,  and  he  crawled 
through  the  water. 

To  his  astonishment,  he  was  in  a  great  circular  amphi 
theater,  a  hundred  feet  in  diameter,  domed  to  an  enormous 
height,  with  the  blue  sky  showing  through  a  rift  at  the 
top.  The  little  spring  trickled  down  the  wall,  now  drop 
ping  sheer  in  spray,  now  trickling  in  a  delicate,  glistening 
sheet.  But  the  greatest  wonder  of  the  cave  was  in  the 
texture  of  its  walls,  which  appeared  to  Enoch  to  be  of 
purest  marble  of  a  deep  shell  pink  and  translucent  creamy 
white.  Moisture  had  collected  on  the  walls  and  each  tiny 
globule  of  water  seemed  to  hold  a  miniature  rainbow  in 
its  heart.  There  was  a  holy  sort  of  loveliness  about  the 
spot,  and  before  he  returned  to  the  rugged  adventure  out 
side,  Enoch  pulled  off  his  hat  and  christened  the  place 
Diana's  Chapel.  Nor  did  he,  on  his  arrival  at  the  camp, 
tell  of  his  find. 

Shortly  after  two  o'clock  Milton  ordered  all  hands 


196          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

aboard.  But  before  this  he  had  shown  them  all  the  map, 
adding  a  rough  sketch  of  his  own.  The  next  rapid  ap 
peared  to  be  no  more  dangerous  than  the  previous  one. 
But  below  it  the  river  widened  out  into  a  circular  bay,  a 
great  tureen  within  which  the  waters  moved  with  an  oil- 
like  smoothness.  But  when  Milton  threw  a  stick  into 
this  strange  basin,  it  was  whirled  the  entire  circumfer 
ence  of  the  bay  with  a  velocity  that  all  the  men  agreed 
boded  ill  for  any  boat  that  did  not  cling  to  the  wall. 
The  west  end  of  the  bay,  where  it  was  all  but  blocked 
by  the  closing  in  of  the  Canyon  sides,  could  not  be  seen 
from  the  rocks  where  the  men  stood.  But  the  old  maps 
reported  a  steep  fall  which  must  be  portaged. 

"  Cling  to  the  right-hand  wall,"  ordered  Milton.  "  If 
you  steer  out,  Harden,  for  the  sake  of  the  short  cut,  you 
may  be  lost.  The  reports  show  that  two  other  boats 
were  lost  here.  Cling  to  the  wall !  When  we  reach  the 
mouth  we  must  go  ashore  again  and  examine  the  falls. 
Be  sure  your  life  preservers  are  strapped  securely." 

"  Mr.  Milton,"  said  Jonas,  "  you  better  let  me  get  my 
hands  on  a  oar.  If  I  got  to  die,  I'm  going  to  die  fight- 
ing." 

"  Good  stuff,  Jonas !  "  exclaimed  Harden.  "  Can  you 
row?" 

"  Brought  up  on  the  Potomac,"  replied  Jonas. 

"  All  right,  folks,"  cried  Milton.     "  We're  off." 

The  Ida  would  have  shot  the  rapid  successfully,  but  for 
one  important  point.  It  was  necessary,  in  order  to  land 
on  the  right  side  of  the  whirlpool,  to  steer  to  the  right  of 
a  tall,  finger-like  rock,  that  protruded  from  the  water  at 
the  bottom  of  the  rapids.  About  a  boat's  length  from 
this  rock,  however,  a  sudden  wave  shot  six  feet  into  the 
air,  throwing  the  Ida  off  its  course,  and  drenching  the 
crew,  so  that  they  entered  the  churning  tureen  at  a  speed 
of  twenty  miles  an  hour  and  almost  at  the  middle  of  the 
stream. 

"  Pull  to  the  right  wall!  To  the  right!  "  roared  Mil 
ton.  But  he  might  as  well  have  roared  to  the  wind. 
Enoch  and  Forrester  rose  from  their  seats  and  threw 


THE  EXPEDITION  BEGINS  197 

the  whole  weight  of  their  bodies  on  their  oars.  But  the 
noiseless  power  of  the  whirlpool  thrust  the  Ida  merci 
lessly  toward  the  center. 

"  Harder!  "  panted  Milton,  straining  with  all  his  might 
at  the  steering  oar.  "  Put  your  back  into  her,  Judge ! 
Bend  to  it,  Forr!" 

Enoch's  breath  came  in  gasps.  His  palms,  the  cords 
of  his  wrists  felt  powerless.  His  toe  muscles  cramped 
in  agony.  As  in  a  mist  he  saw  the  right  wall  recede,  felt 
the  boat  twist  under  his  knees  like  a  disobedient  horse. 
Suddenly  there  was  a  crack  as  of  a  pistol  shot  behind 
him.  One  of  Forrester's  oars  had  snapped.  Forrester 
drew  in  the  other  and  crawled  back  to  add  his  weight  to 
the  steering  oar. 

"  It's  up  to  you,  Judge !  "  cried  Milton. 

They  were  in  the  center  of  the  bay  now  and  the  boat 
began  to  spin.  For  one  terrible  moment  it  seemed  as 
if  an  overturn  were  imminent.  Out  of  the  tail  of  his 
eyes,  Enoch  saw  the  Mary  hugging  the  right  wall. 

"Judge!"  shouted  Milton.  "If  you  can  back  water 
into  that  rough  spot  six  feet  to  your  right,  I  think  we 
can  stop  the  spin." 

Enoch  was  too  spent  to  reply  but  he  gathered  every  re 
source  in  his  body  to  make  one  more  effort.  The  boat 
slowly  edged  into  the  rough  spot  and  for  a  moment  the 
spin  ceased. 

"  Now  shoot  her  downstream !  We'll  have  to  trust  to 
the  Mary  to  keep  us  from  entering  the  falls,"  Milton 
shouted. 

With  Enoch  giving  all  that  was  left  in  him  to  the  oars, 
and  Forrester  and  Milton  steering  with  their  united 
strength  and  skill,  the  Ida  slowly  worked  toward  the 
narrow  opening  which  marked  the  head  of  the  falls. 
The  crew  of  the  Mary  had  landed  and  Harden  stood  on 
the  outermost  rock  at  the  opening,  swinging  a  coil  of 
rope,  while  Agnew  crawled  up  behind  him  with  another. 
Jonas  hung  onto  the  Mary's  rope. 

Perhaps  a  half  dozen  boat  lengths  from  the  falls  the 
whirling  motion  of  the  water  ceased,  and  it  leaped  fero- 


198          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

ciously  toward  the  narrow  opening.  When  the  Ida  felt 
this  straight  pull,  Milton  roared : 

"  Back  her,  Judge,  back  her !  Now  the  rope,  Harden ! 
You  too,  Ag!  " 

Her  prow  was  beyond  the  opening  before  the  speed  of 
the  Ida  was  stopped  by  the  ropes.  A  moment  later  her 
crew  had  dropped  flat  on  the  rocks,  panting  and  ex 
hausted. 

"Well,  Milt,  of  all  the  darn  fools!"  exclaimed  Har 
den.  "  After  telling  us  to  keep  to  the  right,  what  did 
you  try  to  do  yourself?  If  you'd  gone  inside  that  big 
finger  rock  at  the  end  of  the  rapid  you'd  have  had  no 
trouble." 

"  I  never  had  a  chance  to  go  inside  that  rock,"  panted 
Milton.  "  A  pot-hole  spouted  a  boat's  length  ahead  and 
threw  me  clear  to  the  left." 

"  Say,"  said  Agnew,  "  we  got  some  crew  in  our  boat 
now.  Jonas,  you  are  some  little  oarsman!  " 

"  Scared  as  ever,  Jonas?  "  asked  Enoch. 

"  I  wasn't  never  so  much  scared,  you  know,  boss,  as 
I  was  nervous.  But  this  charm  is  sure  a  good  one.  If 
we  can  live  through  this  here  day,  we  can  live  through 
anything.  I  want  you  to  wear  it,  to-morrow,  boss. 
Seems  like  the  head  boat  needs  it  more'n  us  folks." 

Jonas'  liquid  black  eyes  twinkled.  Enoch  laughed. 
"  If  I  hadn't  known  you  were  a  good  sport,  Jonas,  I'd 
never  have  let  you  come  with  us.  Keep  your  charm, 
old  man.  I  don't  expect  ever  to  gather  together  enough 
strength  to  get  into  the  boat  again !  " 

"  Nobody's  going  to  try  to  get  in  to-night,"  said  Mil 
ton,  without  lifting  his  head  from  the  rocks  on  which  he 
lay.  "  We  camp  right  here.  It's  four  o'clock  anyhow." 

"Then  I've  something  still  left  to  be  thankful  for!" 
Enoch  closed  his  eyes  with  a  deep  sigh  of  relief. 

When  he  next  opened  them  it  was  dusk.  Above  him, 
on  the  narrow  canyon  top,  gleamed  the  wonder  of  the 
desert  stars.  There  was  a  glow  of  firelight  on  the  rocks 
about  him.  Enoch  sat  up.  It  was  an  inhospitable  spot 
for  a  camp.  The  roar  of  the  falls  was  harsh  and  men- 


THE  EXPEDITION  BEGINS  199 

acing.  The  canyon  walls  shot  two  thousano.  feet  into 
the  air  on  either  side  of  the  sliding  waters.  Enoch  was 
suddenly  oppressed  by  a  vague  sense  of  suffocation.  He 
realized,  fully,  for  the  first  time  that  the  menace  of  the 
Canyon  was  very  real ;  that  should  a  sudden  rise  of  the 
waters  come  at  this  point,  there  was  no  climbing  out,  no 
going  back;  that  should  the  boats  be  lost —  He  shook 
himself,  rose  stiffly  and  joined  the  group  around  the  fire. 

"  Ship  ahoy,  Judge !  "  cried  Harden.  "  Are  you  still 
traveling  in  circles?  " 

"Humph!"  grunted  Milton.  "The  Judge  may  be  a 
tenderfoot  in  the  Canyon,  but  he's  no  tenderfoot  in  a  boat. 
Ever  on  a  college  crew,  Judge?  " 

"  Yes,  Columbia, K  replied  Enoch. 

"  I  thought  you'd  raced !  Jove,  how  you  did  heave  the 
old  tub  round !  Jonas,  how  about  grub  for  the  Judge  ?  " 

"  How  come  you  to  think  you  have  to  tell  me  to  look 
out  for  my  boss,  Mr.  Milton?  "  grumbled  Jonas,  coming 
up  with  a  pie  tin  loaded  with  beans  and  bacon. 

"  Hello,  Jonas,  old  man !  What  do  you  think  of  this 
parlor,  bedroom  and  bath?"  asked  Enoch. 

"  I  feel  like  Joseph  in  the  pit,  boss !  Folks  back  home 
wouldn't  never  believe  me  if  Mr.  Agnew  hadn't  prom 
ised  to  take  some  pictures  of  me  and  my  boat.  That's 
an  awful  good  boat,  the  Mary,  boss.  She  is  some  boat ! 
Did  you  see  me  jerk  her  round?  " 

"  No,  I  missed  that,  Jonas.  I  was  a  little  preoccupied 
at  the  time.  Is  to-day  a  fair  sample  of  every  day,  you 
fellows?" 

"  Lately,  yes,"  replied  Forrester.  "  To-morrow'll  be  a 
bell  ringer  too,  from  the  looks  of  that  portage.  Need  any 
help  on  those  dishes,  Jonas,  before  I  go  to  bed?  " 

"  All  done,  thanks,"  answered  Jonas.  "  Say,  Mr.  Mil 
ton,  you  know  what  I  was  thinking?  Mary's  no  name 
for  a  sassy,  gritty  boat  like  ours.  Let  me  give  her  a 
good  name." 

"What  name,  for  instance?"  demanded  Harden. 

Jonas  cleared  his  throat.  "  I  was  thinking  of  the  Na« 
che." 


200         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  My  word !  "  exclaimed  Harden.  "  Say,  Ag,  would 
you  want  our  boat  renamed  the  Na-che  ?  " 

"Who'd  repaint  the  name?"  asked  Agnew  carefully. 
"  That's  the  point  with  me." 

"  The  trouble  with  you,  Ag,"  said  Harden,  "  is  that 
you  haven't  any  soul." 

"  I'd  do  the  painting,"  Jonas  went  on  eagerly.  "  I  was 
thinking^of  getting  her  all  fixed  up  with  that  can  of  paint 
I  see  to-day.  Red  paint,  it  was." 

"  Do  you  think  that  Na-che  would  mind  our  making 
free  with  her  name?  "  Milton's  tone  was  serious. 

"Mind!"  cried  Jonas.  "Well,  if  you  knew  women 
like  I  do  you'd  never  ask  a  question  like  that !  A  woman 
would  rather  have  a  boat  or  a  race  horse  named  after  her 
any  time  than  have  a  baby  named  for  her.  I  know 
women !  " 

"  In  that  case,  let's  rename  the  Mary,"  said  Milton. 
"  Everybody  ready  to  turn  in?  " 

"  I  am,  sir,"  replied  Harden.  "  Jonas,  you  turn  off 
the  lights  and  put  the  cat  down  cellar.  Good  night,  every 
body!" 

Jonas  chuckled  and  hobbled  off  to  his  blankets.  It  was 
not  seven  o'clock  when  the  rude  camp  was  silent  and  every 
soul  in  it  in  profound  slumber. 

Enoch  was  stiff  and  muscle-sore  in  the  morning  but  he 
ate  breakfast  with  a  ravenous  appetite  and  with  a  keen 
interest  in  the  day's  program.  In  response  to  his  ques 
tions  Milton  said : 

"  We  unload  the  boats  and  make  the  dunnage  up  into 
fifty  pound  loads.  Then  we  look  over  the  trail.  Some 
times  we  have  merely  to  get  up  on  our  two  legs  and  walk 
it.  Other  times  we  have  to  make  trail  even  for  our 
selves,  let  alone  for  the  boats.  Sometimes  we  can  por 
tage  the  freight  and  lower  the  boats  through  the  water 
by  tow  ropes.  But  for  this  falls,  there's  nothing  to  do 
but  to  make  trail  and  drag  the  boats  over  it." 

"  It's  no  trip  for  babes !  "  exclaimed  Enoch.  "  That's 
certain!  Do  you  like  the  work,  Milton?" 

"  It's  a  work  no  one  would  do  voluntarily  without  lik 


THE  EXPEDITION  BEGINS  201 

ing  it,"  replied  the  young  man.  "  I  like  it.  I  wouldn't 
want  to  give  my  life  to  it,  but  — "  he  paused  to  look  over 
toward  the  others  busily  unloading  the  Na-che, — "  but 
nothing  will  ever  do  again  for  me  what  this  experience 
has." 

"And  may  I  ask  what  that  is?"  Enoch's  voice  was 
eager. 

Milton  searched  Enoch's  face  carefully,  then  answered 
slowly.  "  Sometime  when  we  are  having  a  rest,  I'll  tell 
you,  if  you  really  want  to  know." 

'Thanks!  And  now  set  me  to  work,  Captain,"  said 
Enoch. 

The  way  beside  the  falls  was  nothing  more  than  a 
narrow  ledge  completely  covered  with  giant  bowlders. 
Beyond  the  falls,  the  river  hurled  itself  for  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  against  broken  rocks  that  made  the  passage  of  a 
boat  impossible.  It  was  a  long  portage.  After  the 
bowlder-strewn  ledge  was  passed,  however,  it  was  not 
necessary  to  make  trail,  for  although  the  shore  was  strewn 
with  broken  rock  and  driftwood,  the  way  was  fairly  open. 

After  the  contents  of  the  boats  had  been  made  up  into 
rough  packs,  both  crews  attacked  the  trail-making.  It 
was  mid-morning  before  pick-ax,  shovel  and  crowbar 
had  opened  up  a  way  which  Jonas  claimed  was  fit  only 
for  kangaroos  or  elephants.  Rough  as  it  was,  when  Mil 
ton  declared  it  fit  for  their  purposes,  the  rest  without 
protest  heaved  the  packs  to  their  shoulders. 

It  was  hot  at  midday  in  the  Canyon.  The  thermometer 
registered  98°  in  the  shade.  Enoch,  following  Milton, 
dropped  his  third  pack  at  the  end  of  the  quarter  mile 
portage  and  sat  down  beside  it. 

"  Old  man !  "  he  groaned,  "  you've  got  to  give  me  a 
ten  minutes'  rest." 

Milton  grinned  and  nodded  sympathetically.  "  Take 
all  the  time  you  want,  Judge !  " 

"  I'm  ashamed,"  said  Enoch,  "  but  don't  forget  you  fel 
lows  have  had  ten  months  of  this,  as  against  my  two 
days." 

"  I  don't  forget  for  a  minute,  Judge.     And  just  let  me 


202          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

tell  you  that  if  ever  I  were  on  trial  for  a  serious  offense 
of  any  kind  I'd  be  perfectly  satisfied  to  be  tried  before 
a  real  he-man,  like  you."  And  Milton  disappeared  over 
the  trail,  leaving  Enoch  with  a  warm  glow  in  his  heart, 
such  as  he  had  scarcely  felt  since  his  first  public  speech 
won  the  praise  of  the  newspapers. 

For  a  quarter  of  an  hour  he  sat  with  his  back  against 
a  half  buried  mesquite  log  smoking,  and  now  eying  the 
magnificent  sheer  crimson  wall  which  lay  across  the  river, 
now  wondering  where  Diana  was  and  now  contemplating 
curiously  the  sense  of  his  own  unimportance  which  the 
Canyon  was  thrusting  into  his  consciousness  more  per 
sistently  every  hour.  Jonas  joined  him  for  the  last  part 
of  his  rest,  but  when  Milton  announced  that  they  had 
-finished  the  packing  and  must  now  portage  the  boats, 
Jonas  was  on  the  alert. 

"  That  name  isn't  dry  yet !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  I  got  to 
watch  the  prow  of  my  boat  myself,"  and  he  started  hur 
riedly  back  over  the  trail,  Enoch  following  him  more 
.slowly. 

Sometimes  lifting,  sometimes  skidding  on  drift  logs, 
sometimes  dragging  by  main  strength,  the  six  men  finally 
landed  the  Ida  and  the  Na-che  in  quiet  waters.  Jonas 
and  Agnew  prepared  a  simple  dinner  and  immediately 
after  they  embarked.  For  two  hours  the  river  flowed 
swiftly  and  quietly  between  sheer  walls  of  stratified  gran 
ite,  white  and  pale  yellow,  shot  with  rose.  Now  and 
again  a  cedar,  dwarfed  and  distorted,  found  toe  hold  be 
tween  the  strata  and  etched  its  deep  green  against  the 
white  and  yellow. 

About  four  o'clock  the  river  widened  and  the  walls  were 
broken  by  lateral  canyons  that  led  back  darkly  and  mys 
teriously  into  the  bowels  of  the  desert.  For  half  an  hour 
more  Milton  guided  the  Ida  onward.  Then  Enoch  cried, 
"  Milton,  see  that  brook!  "  and  he  pointed  to  a  tumbling 
little  stream  that  issued  from  one  of  the  side  canyons. 

Milton  at  once  called  for  a  landing  on  the  grassy  shore 
beside  the  brook.  Never  was  there  a  sweeter  spot  than 
this.  Willows  bent  over  the  brook  and  long  grass  mir- 


THE  EXPEDITION  BEGINS  203 

rored  itself  within  its  pebbly  depths  for  a  moment  before 
the  crystal  water  joined  the  muddy  Colorado.  The  Can 
yon  no  longer  overhung  the  river  suffocatingly,  but 
opened  widely,  showing  behind  the  fissured  white  granite 
peaks,  crimson  and  snow  capped  and  appalling  in  their 
bigness. 

"  Here's  where  we  put  in  a  day,  boys!  "  exclaimed  Mil 
ton.  "  I'm  sure  we  can  scramble  to  the  top  here,  some 
how,  and  get  a  general  idea  of  the  country." 

His  crew  cheered  this  statement  enthusiastically.  The 
landing  was  easily  made  and  the  boats  were  beached  and 
unloaded. 

"  Never  thought  I  could  unload  a  boat  again  without 
bursting  into  tears,"  said  Enoch,  grunting  under  three 
bed  rolls  he  was  carrying  up  to  the  willows,  "  but  here 
I  am,  full  of  enthusiasm!  " 

"  You  need  a  lot  of  it  down  here,  I  can  tell  you," 
growled  Forrester,  who  had  skinned  his  chin  badly  in  a 
fall  that  morning. 

"  You  look  like  a  goat,  Forr,"  said  Harden  sympa 
thetically,  as  he  set  a  folding  table  close  to  the  spot  where 
Jonas  was  kindling  a  fire. 

"  I'd  rather  look  like  a  goat  than  a  jack-ass,"  returned 
Forrester  with  an  edge  to  his  voice. 

"  Forr,"  said  Milton,  "  don't  you  want  to  try  your 
luck  at  some  fish  for  supper?  The  salmon  ought  to  be 
interested  in  a  spot  like  this." 

Forrester's  voice  cleared  at  once.  "  Sure !  I'd  be  glad 
to,"  he  said,  and  went  off  to  unload  his  fishing  tackle. 
When  he  was  out  of  hearing,  Milton  said  sharply  to 
Harden : 

"  Why  can't  you  let  him  alone,  Hard !  You  know  how 
touchy  he  is  when  anything's  the  matter  with  him." 

"  I'm  sorry,"  replied  Harden  shortly. 

Enoch  glanced  with  interest  from  one  man  to  the 
other,  but  said  nothing,  not  even  when,  Milton's  back 
being  turned,  Harden  winked  at  him.  And  when  For 
rester  returned  with  a  four-pound  river  salmon,  there  was 
no  sign  of  irritation  itj  his  face  or  manner. 


204         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

This  night,  for  the  first  time,  they  sat  around  the  fire, 
luxuriating  in  the  thought  that  for  the  next  twenty-four 
hours  they  were  free  of  the  terrible  demands  of  the  river. 
Forrester  possessed  a  good  tenor  voice  and  sang,  Jonas 
joining  with  his  mellow  baritone.  Harden,  lying  close 
to  the  flames,  read  a  chapter  from  "  David  Harum,"  the 
one  book  of  the  expedition.  Agnew,  on  request,  told  a 
long  and  involved  story  of  a  Chinese  laundryman  and  a 
San  Francisco  broker  which  evoked  much  laughter. 
Then  Milton,  as  master  of  ceremonies,  turned  to  Enoch  : 

"  Now  then,  Judge,  do  your  duty !  " 

"  I  haven't  a  parlor  trick  to  my  name,"  protested 
Enoch. 

"  I  like  what  you  call  our  efforts !  "  cried  Harden. 
"  Hit  him  for  me,  Ag!  He's  closest  to  you." 

"  Not  after  the  way  he  wallops  the  Ida,"  grunted  Ag 
new.  "  Let  Milt  do  it." 

"  Boss,"  said  Jonas  suddenly,  "  tell  'em  that  poem  about 
mercy  I  heard  you  give  at  —  at  that  banquet  at  our 
house." 

Enoch  smiled,  took  his  pipe  from  his  lips,  and  began: 

"  '  The  quality  of  mercy  is  not  strained, 

It  droppeth  as  the  gentle  rain  from  heaven, 
Upon  the  place  beneath  — '  " 

Enoch  paused  a  moment.  The  words  held  a  new  and 
soul-shattering  significance  for  him.  Then  as  the  others 
waited  breathlessly,  he  went  on.  His  beautiful,  mellow 
voice,  his  remarkable  enunciation,  the  magnetism  of  his 
personality  stirred  his  little  audience,  just  as  thousands 
of  greater  audiences  had  been  stirred  by  these  same  qual 
ities. 

When  he  had  finished,  there  was  a  profound  silence 
until  Milton  said : 

"  That's  the  only  thing  I  have  heard  said  in  the  Canyon 
that  didn't  sound  paltry." 

"If  any  of  the  rest  of  us  had  repeated  it,  though,  it 
might  have  sounded  so."  Harden's  tone  was  dry. 


THE  EXPEDITION  BEGINS  205 

"  Shakespeare  couldn't  sound  paltry  anywhere !  "  ex 
claimed  Enoch. 

"Hum!"  sniffed  Agnew.  "Depends  on  what  and 
when  you're  quoting.  Give  us  another,  Judge." 

Enoch  gazed  thoughtfully  at  the  fire  for  a  moment, 
then  slowly  and  quietly  he  gave  them  the  prayer  of 
Habakkuk.  The  liquid  phrases  rolled  from  his  lips, 
echoed  in  the  Canyon,  then  dropped  into  silence.  Enoch 
sat  with  his  great  head  bowed,  his  sensitive  mouth  com 
pressed  as  if  with  pain.  His  friends  stared  from  him 
to  one  another,  then  one  by  one  slipped  away  to  their 
blankets.  When  Enoch  looked  up,  only  Milton  was  left. 

"  And  so,"  said  Enoch,  "  the  Canyon  has  been  a  great 
experience  for  you,  Milton  !  " 

"  Yes,  Judge.  I  became  engaged  to  a  girl  who  is  a 
Catholic.  I  am  a  Protestant,  one  of  the  easy  going  kind 
that  never  goes  to  church.  Yet,  do  you  know,  when  she 
insisted  that  I  turn  Catholic,  I  wouldn't  do  it?  We  had 
a  fearful  time !  I  didn't  have  any  idea  there  was  so  much 
creed  in  me  as  I  discovered  I  had.  In  the  midst  of  it 
the  opportunity  came  for  this  Canyon  work,  and  this 
trip  has  changed  the  whole  outlook  of  life  for  me. 
Judge,  creeds  don't  matter  any  more  than  bridges  do  to 
a  stream.  They  are  just  a  way  of  getting  across,  that's 
all.  Creeds  may  come  and  creeds  may  go,  but  God  goes 
on  forever.  Nothing  changes  true  religion.  Christ  pro 
mulgated  the  greatest  system  of  ethics  the  world  has 
known.  The  ethics  of  God.  He  put  them  into  practical 
working  form  for  human  beings.  Whatever  creed  helps 
you  to  live  the  teachings  of  Christ  most  truly,  that's  the 
true  creed  for  you.  That's  what  the  Canyon's  done  for 
me.  And  when  I  get  out,  I'm  going  back  to  Alice  and 
let  her  make  of  me  whatever  will  help  her  most.  I'm 
safe.  I've  got  the  creed  of  the  Colorado  Canyon!  " 

Enoch  looked  at  the  freckled,  ruddy  face  and  smiled. 
"  Thank  you,  Milton.  You've  given  me  something  to 
think  about." 

"  I  doubt  if  you  lack  subjects,"  replied  Milton  drily. 
''  But —  well,  I  have  an  idea  you  came  out  here  looking 


206         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

for  something.     There  are  lines  around  your  eyes  that  say 
that.     So  I  just  thought  I'd  hand  on  to  you  what  I  got." 

Enoch  nodded  and  the  two  smoked  for  a  while  in  si 
lence.  Then  Enoch  said  in  a  low  voice : 

"Do  you  have  trouble  with  Forrester  and  Harden?" 

"  Yes,  constant  friction.  They're  both  fine  fellows, 
but  naturally  antagonistic  to  each  other." 

"  A  fellovr  may  be  ever  so  fine,"  said  Enoch,  "  yet  lack 
the  sense  of  team  play  that  is  absolutely  essential  in  a  job 
like  this." 

"  Exactly,"  replied  Milton.  "  The  great  difficulty  is 
that  you  can't  judge  men  until  they're  undergoing  the 
trial.  Then  it's  too  late.  In  Powell's  first  expedition, 
soon  after  the  Civil  War,  there  was  constant  friction  be 
tween  Powell  and  three  of  his  men.  At  last,  although 
they  had  signed  a  contract  to  stick  by  him,  they  deserted 
him." 

"  How  was  that  ?  "  asked  Enoch  with  interest. 

"  They  simply  insisted  on  being  put  ashore  and  they 
climbed  out  of  the  Canyon  with  the  idea  of  getting  to 
some  of  the  Mormon  settlements.  But  the  Indians  killed 
them  almost  at  once,  poor  devils!  Powell  got  the  story 
of  it  on  his  second  expedition.  The  history  of  those  two 
expeditions,  I  think,  are  as  glorious  as  any  chapter  in 
our  American  annals." 

"  Was  it  so  much  harder  than  the  work  you  are  doing?" 

"  There  is  no  comparison !  We're  simply  following 
the  trail  that  Powell  blazed.  Think  of  his  superb  cour 
age  !  These  f  rrrible  waters  were  enshrouded  in  mystery 
and  fear.  lie  did  not  know  even  what  kind  of  boats 
could  live  in  them.  Hostile  Indians  marauded  on  either 
hand.  And  as  near  as  I  recall  the  only  settlements  he 
could  call  on,  if  he  succeeded  in  clambering  out  of  the 
Canyon,  were  Ft.  Defiance  in  New  Mexico,  and  Mormon 
settlements,  miles  across  the  desert  in  Utah." 

"  Hum !  "  said  Enoch  slowly,  "  it  doesn't  seem  to  me 
that  things  are  so  much  better  now,  that  we  need  to  boast 
about  them.  There  are  no  Indians,  to  be  sure,  but  the 
river  is  about  all  human  endurance  and  ingenuity  can 
cope  with,  just  as  it  was  in  Powell's  day." 


THE  EXPEDITION  BEGINS  207 

"She's  a  bird,  all  right!"  sighed  Milton.  "Well, 
Judge,  I'm  going  to  turn  in.  To-morrow's  another  day! 
Good  night." 

"Good  night,  Captain!"  replied  Enoch.  He  threw 
another  stick  of  driftwood  on  the  fire  and  after  a  mo 
ment's  thought  fetched  the  black  diary  from  his  rubber 
dunnage  bag.  When  the  fire  was  clear  and  bright,  he 
began  to  write. 

"  Diana,  you  were  wrong.  No  matter  how  strenuous 
the  work  is,  you  are  never  out  of  the  background  of  my 
thoughts.  But  at  least  I  am  having  surcease  from  griev 
ing  for  you.  I  have  had  no  time  to  dwell  on  the  fact 
that  you  cannot  belong  to  me.  I  am  afraid  to  come  out 
of  the  Canyon.  Afraid  that  when  these  wonderful  days 
of  adventure  are  over,  the  knowledge  that  I  must  not  ask 
you  to  marry  me  will  descend  on  me  like  a  stifling  fog. 
As  for  Brown!  Diana,  why  not  let  me  kill  him!  I'd 
be  willing  to  stand  before  any  jury  in  the  world  with  his 
blood  on  my  hands.  What  he  has  done  to  me  is  typical 
of  Brown  and  all  his  works.  He  is  unclean  and  clever, 
a  frightful  combination.  Consider  the  class  of  readers 
he  has!  The  majority  of  the  people  who  read  Brown, 
read  only  Brown.  His  readers  are  the  great  common 
alty  of  America,  the  source,  once,  of  all  that  was  best  in 
our  life.  Brown  tells  them  nasty  stories,  not  about  peo 
ple  alone,  but  about  systems;  systems  of  money,  systems 
of  work,  systems  of  government.  And  because  nasty 
stories  are  always  luscious  reading,  and  because  it  is 
easier  to  believe  evil  than  good  about  anything,  twice 
every  day,  as  he  produces  his  morning  and  evening  edi 
tions,  Brown  is  polluting  the  head  waters  of  our  national 
existence.  I  say,  why  not  let  me  kill  him?  What  more 
useful  and  direct  thing  could  I  do  than  rid  the  nation  of 
him?  And  O  Diana,  when  I  think  of  the  smut  to 
which  he  coupled  your  loveliness,  I  feel  that  I  am  less 
than  a  man  to  have  hesitated  this  long." 

Enoch  closed  the  book,  replaced  it  in  the  bag,  and  sat 
for  a  long  hour  staring  into  the  fire.  Then  he  went  to 
bed. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE    PERFECT    ADVENTURE 

"Who  cares  whether  or  not  my  hands  are  clean? 
Does  God?  Wouldn't  God  expect  me  to  punish  evil? 
God  is  mercilessly  just,  is  He  not?  Else  why  disease 
and  grief  in  the  world?  If  you  could  only  tell  me!" 

—  Enoch's  Diary. 

IT  was  nipping  cold  in  the  morning.  Ice  encrusted  the 
edges  of  the  little  brook.  But  by  the  time  breakfast 
was  finished,  the  sun  had  appeared  over  the  distant  moun 
tain  peaks  and  the  long  warm  rays  soon  brought  the  ther 
mometer  up  to  summer  heat.  Milton  expounded  his  pro 
gram  at  breakfast.  Jonas  was  to  keep  the  camp.  Enoch 
and  Milton  were  to  climb  to  the  rim  for  topographical 
information.  Harden  was  to  look  for  fossils.  Agnew 
and  Forrester  were  to  make  a  geological  report  on  the 
strata  of  the  section. 

Jonas  was  extraordinarily  well  pleased  with  his  assign 
ment. 

"  I'm  going  to  finish  painting  the  Na-che,"  he  said. 
"  Mr.  Milton,  have  you  got  anything  I  can  mend  the  tar 
paulins  with  that  go  over  the  decks  ?  " 

"  Needles  and  twine  in  the  bag  labeled  Repairs,"  re 
plied  Milton.  "  How  about  giving  the  Ida  the  once  over, 
too,  Jonas." 

"  All  right !  If  I  get  around  to  it !  "  Jonas'  manner 
was  vague. 

"  Can't  love  but  one  boat  at  a  time,  eh,  Jonas?  "  asked 
Enoch. 

"  I  always  wanted  to  have  a  boat  to  fix  up,"  said  Jonas. 
"  When  I  was  a  kid  my  folks  had  an  old  flat-bottom  tub, 
but  I  never  earned  enough  for  a  can  of  paint.  Will  you 
folks  be  home  by  twelve  for  dinner  ?  " 

208 


THE  PERFECT  ADVENTURE         209 

There  was  a  chorus  of  assent  as  the  crew  scattered  to 
its  several  tasks.  Milton  and  Enoch  started  at  once  up 
the  edge  of  the  brook,  hoping  that  the  ascent  might  be 
made  more  easily  thus.  But  the  crevice,  out  of  which 
the  little  stream  found  its  way  to  the  Colorado,  nar 
rowed  rapidly  to  the  point  where  it  became  impossible 
for  the  two  men  to  work  their  way  into  it.  They  were 
obliged,  after  a  half  hour's  struggle,  to  return  to  the 
camp  and  start  again. 

A  very  steep  slope  of  bright  orange  sand  led  from  the 
shore  to  a  scarcely  less  oblique  terrace  of  sharp  broken 
rock.  There  were  several  hundred  feet  of  the  sand  and, 
as  it  was  dry  and  loose,  it  caused  a  constant  slipping  and 
falling  that  consumed  both  time  and  strength.  The  rocky 
terrace  was  far  easier  to  manage,  and  they  covered  that 
rapidly,  although  Enoch  had  a  nasty  fall,  cutting  his 
knee.  They  were  brought  to  pause,  however,  when  the 
broken  rock  gave  way  to  a  sheer  hard  wall,  which  offered 
neither  crack  nor  projection  for  hand  or  foot  hold. 

Milton  led  the  way  carefully  along  its  foot  for  a  quar 
ter  of  a  mile  until  they  reached  a  fissure  wide  enough  for 
them  to  enter.  The  walls  of  this  were  crossed  by  trans 
verse  cracks.  By  utilizing  these,  now  pulling,  now  boost 
ing  each  other,  they  finally  emerged  on  a  flat,  smooth 
tableland,  of  which  fissures  had  made  a  complete  island. 
At  the  southern  end  of  the  island  rose  an  abrupt  black 
peak. 

"If  we  can  get  to  the  top  of  that,"  said  Milton,  "  it 
ought  to  bring  us  to  the  general  desert  level.  Is  your 
knee  bothering  you,  Judge?  " 

"  Not  enough  to  stop  the  parade,"  replied  Enoch. 
"  How  high  do  you  think  that  peak  is,  Milton?  " 

"  Not  less  than  a  thousand  feet,  I  would  guess.  I  bet 
it's  as  easy  to  climb  as  a  greased  pole,  too." 

The  pinnacle,  when  they  reached  it,  appeared  very 
little  less  difficult  than  Milton  had  guessed  it  would  be. 
The  north  side  offered  no  hope  whatever.  It  rose  smooth 
and  perpendicular  toward  the  heavens.  But  the  south  side 
was  rough  and  though  a  yawning  fissure  at  its  base  added 


210         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

five  hundred  feet  to  its  southern  height  they  determined 
to  try  their  fortunes  here.  Ledges  and  jutting  rocks, 
cracks  and  depressions  finally  made  the  ascent  possible. 
The  top,  when  they  achieved  it,  was  not  twenty  feet  in 
diameter.  They  dropped  on  it,  panting. 

The  view  which  met  their  eyes  was  superb.  To  the 
south  lay  the  desert,  rainbow  colored.  Rising  abruptly 
from  its  level  were  isolated  peaks  of  bright  purple,  all 
of  them  snow  capped,  many  of  them  with  crevices  marked 
by  the  brilliant  white  of  snow.  Miles  to  the  south  of  the 
isolated  peaks  lay  a  long  range  of  mountains,  dull  black 
against  the  blue  sky,  but  with  the  white  of  snow  caps 
showing  even  at  this  distance.  To  the  north,  the  river 
gorge  wound  like  a  snake ;  the  gorge  and  one  huge  moun 
tain  dominating  the  entire  northern  landscape.  Satiated 
by  wonders  as  Milton  was,  he  exclaimed  over  the  beauty 
of  this  giant,  sleeping  in  the  desert  sun. 

A  sprawling  cone  in  outline,  there  was  nothing  extraor 
dinary  about  it  in  contour,  but  its  size  and  color  surpassed 
anything  that  Enoch  had  as  yet  seen.  From  base  to  apex 
it  was  a  perfect  rose  tint,  deepening  where  its  great  shoul 
ders  bent,  to  crimson.  As  if  still  not  satisfied  with  her 
work,  nature  had  sent  a  recent  snow  storm  to  embellish 
the  verdureless  rock,  and  the  mountain  was  lightly  pow 
dered  with  white  which  here  was  of  a  gauze-like  texture 
permitting  pale  rose  to  glimmer  through,  there  lay  in 
drifts,  white  defined  against  crimson. 

Enoch  sat  gazing  about  him  while  Milton  worked  rap 
idly  with  his  note  book  and  instruments.  Finally  he 
slipped  his  pencil  into  his  pocket  with  a  sigh. 

"  And  that's  done !  What  do  you  say  to  a  return  for 
lunch,  Judge?  " 

"  I'm  very  much  with  you,"  replied  Enoch.  "  Here ! 
Hold  up,  old  man !  What's  the  matter?  "  For  Milton 
was  swaying  and  would  have  fallen  if  Enoch  had  not 
caught  him. 

Milton  clung  to  Enoch's  broad  shoulder  for  a  moment, 
then  straightened  himself  with  a  jerk. 

"  Sorry,  Judge.     It's  that  infernal  vertigo  again!  " 


THE  PERFECT  ADVENTURE          211 

"  What's  the  cause  of  it?  "  asked  Enoch.  "  Might  be 
rather  serious,  might  it  not,  on  a  trip  such  as  yours  ?  " 

"  I  think  the  water  we  have  to  drink  must  be  affecting 
my  kidneys,"  replied  Milton.  "  I  never  had  anything  of 
the  sort  before  this  trip,  but  I've  been  troubled  this  way 
a  dozen  times  lately.  It  only  lasts  for  a  minute." 

"  But  in  that  minute,"  Enoch's  voice  was  grave,  "  you 
might  fall  down  a  mountain  or  out  of  the  boat." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  get  it  that  bad !  And  anyhow,  I  haven't 
gone  off  alone  since  these  things  began.  When  we  get 
to  El  Tovar  I'll  try  to  locate  a  doctor." 

Enoch  looked  admiringly  at  the  grim  young  freckled 
face  beneath  the  faded  hat.  "  I  see  I  shall  have  to  appoint 
myself  bodyguard,"  he  said.  "  I'd  suggest  Jonas,  only 
he's  deserted  me  for  the  Na-che,  and  I  doubt  if  you  could 
win  him  from  her." 

Milton  laughed.  "  Nothing  on  earth  can  equal  the  joy 
of  puddling  about  in  boats,  to  the  right  kind  of  a  chap, 
as  the  Wind  in  the  Willows  has  it.  And  Jonas  certainly 
is  the  right  kind  of  a  chap!  " 

"  Jonas  is  a  man,  every  inch  of  him,"  agreed  Enoch. 
"  Shall  we  try  the  descent  now,  Milton?  " 

"  I'm  ready,"  replied  the  young  man,  and  the  slow  and 
arduous  task  was  begun. 

Jonas  was  just  lifting  the  frying  pan  from  the  fire  when 
they  slid  down  the  orange  sand  bank.  The  rest  of  the 
crew  was  ready  and  waiting  around  the  flat  rock  that 
served  as  dining  table. 

"  \Vhat's  the  matter  with  your  knee,  boss?"  cried 
Jonas,  standing  with  the  coffee  pot  in  his  hand. 

Enoch  laughed  as  he  glanced  down  at  his  torn  and 
blood-stained  overalls.  "  Of  course,  if  you  were  giving 
me  half  the  care  you  give  your  boat,  Jonas,  these  things 
wouldn't  happen  to  me !  " 

"  You  better  let  me  fix  you  up,  before  you  eat,  boss/' 
said  Jonas. 

"  Not  on  your  life,  old  man!  Food  will  do  this  knee 
more  good  than  a  bandage." 

"  It's  a  wonder  you  wouldn't  offer  to  help  the  rest  of 


212         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

us  out  once  in  a  while,  Jonas!  "  Harden  looked  up  from 
his  plate  of  fish.  "  Look  at  this  scratch  on  my  cheek !  I 
might  get  blood  poisoning,  but  lots  you  care  if  my  fatal 
beauty  was  destroyed!  As  it  is,  I  look  as  much  like  an 
inmate  of  a  menagerie  as  old  goat  Forrester  here." 

"  Too  bad  the  scratch  didn't  injure  your  tongue,  Har 
den,"  returned  Forrester,  sarcastically. 

"  Nothing  seems  able  to  stop  your  chin,  though,  Forr ! 
Why  do  you  have  to  get  sore  every  time  I  speak  to  you?  " 

"  Because  you're  always  going  out  of  your  way  to  say 
something  insulting  to  me." 

"  Don't  make  a  mountain  out  of  a  mole  hill,  Forr," 
said  Milton.  "  If  you  fellows  aren't  careful  you'll  have 
a  real  quarrel,  and  that's  the  last  thing  I'm  going  to  stand 
for,  I  warn  you." 

"  Very  well,  Milt,"  replied  Forrester,  "  if  you  don't 
want  trouble  make  Harden  keep  his  tongue  off  me." 

"  The  fault  is  primarily  yours,  Hard,"  Milton  went 
on.  "  You  know  Forrester  is  foolishly  sensitive  and 
you  can't  control  your  love  of  teasing.  Now,  once  for 
all,  I  ask  you  not  to  speak  to  Forrester  except  on  the 
business  of  the  survey." 

Harden  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  Forrester  scowled 
a  little  sheepishly.  Agnew,  a  serene,  kindly  fellow,  be 
gan  one  of  his  endless  Irish  stories,  and  the  incident  ap 
peared  to  be  closed.  The  work  assigned  for  the  day  was 
accomplished  in  shorter  order  than  Milton  had  antici 
pated.  By  two  o'clock  all  hands  were  back  in  camp  and 
Milton  decided  to  embark  and  move  on  as  far  as  pos 
sible  before  nightfall.  But  scarcely  had  they  finished 
loading  the  boats  and  tied  on  the  tarpaulins  when  a  heavy 
rain  began  to  fall,  accompanied  by  lightning  and  tremen 
dous  peals  of  thunder  that  echoed  through  the  Canyon 
deafeningly. 

Milton,  in  his  anxiety  to  get  on  with  his  task,  would 
have  continued  in  spite  of  the  rain,  but  the  others  pro 
tested  so  vigorously  that  he  gave  in  and  the  whole  party 
crawled  under  a  sheltering  ledge  beside  the  brook.  For 
an  hour  the  storm  raged.  A  few  flakes  of  snow  mingled 


THE  PERFECT  ADVENTURE         213 

with  the  descending  rain  drops.  Then  with  a  superb 
flash  of  lightning  and  crash  of  thunder  the  storm  passed 
as  suddenly  as  it  had  come,  though  for  hours  after  they 
heard  it  reverberate  among  the  distant  peaks. 

At  last  they  embarked  and  proceeded  along  a  smooth, 
swift-flowing  river  for  a  short  time.  Then,  however, 
the  familiar  roar  of  falls  was  heard,  the  current  increased 
rapidly  in  velocity  and  Milton  made  a  landing  for  obser 
vation. 

They  were  at  the  head  of  the  wildest  falls  that  Enoch 
had  yet  seen.  The  Canyon  walls  were  smooth  and  per 
pendicular.  There  was  no  possibility  of  a  portage.  The 
river  was  full  of  rocks  against  which  dashed  waves  ten 
to  twelve  feet  high. 

"  We'll  have  to  run  it !  "  shouted  Milton  above  the  din 
of  the  waters.  "  Powell  did  it  and  so  can  we.  Give  the 
Ida  five  minutes'  start,  Hard.  Then  profit  by  the  mis 
takes  you  see  us  make.  All  ready,  Judge  and  Forr !  " 

Under  Milton's  directions,  they  rowed  back  upstream 
far  enough  to  gain  complete  control  of  the  boat  before 
entering  the  falls.  Then  they  shot  forward.  Instantly 
the  oars  became  useless.  They  were  carried  upward  on 
the  crest  of  a  wave  that  seemed  about  to  drop  them  down 
an  unbelievable  depth  to  a  jagged  rock.  But  at  this 
point,  another  wave  seized  them  and  hurled  them  side- 
wise,  half  rolled  them  over,  then  uptilted  them  until  the 
Ida's  nose  was  deep  in  the  wrater. 

They  bailed  like  mad  but  to  little  avail  for  the  waves 
broke  over  the  sides  constantly.  They  could  see  little  for 
the  air  was  full  of  blinding  spray.  Suddenly,  after  what 
had  seemed  an  eternity  but  was  really  five  minutes  of 
time,  there  was  a  rending  crash  and  the  Ida  slid  into 
quieter  water,  turning  completely  over  as  she  did  so. 

Enoch,  as  the  sucking  current  seized  him,  was  con 
vinced  that  his  hour  had  come,  and  a  quick  relief  was  his 
first  sensation.  Then  Diana's  wistful  eyes  flashed  be 
fore  him  and  he  began  to  fight  the  Colorado.  As  his 
head  emerged  from  the  water,  he  saw  the  Na-che  land  on 
all  fours  from  the  top  of  a  wave  upon  the  overturned 


214         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

Ida,  then  whirl  away.  He  began  to  swim  with  all  his 
strength.  The  mud  forever  suspended  in  the  Colorado 
weighed  down  his  clothing.  But  little  by  little  he  drew 
near  the  Ida,  to  which  he  could  see  two  dark  bodies  cling 
ing.  The  Na-che,  struggling  to  cross  a  whirlpool  toward 
him,  made  slow  progress.  He  had,  indeed,  dizzily 
grasped  the  Ida,  before  the  other  boat  came  up. 

"We  can  hang  on,  Hard!"  gasped  Milton.  "Give 
us  a  tow  to  that  sand  spit  yonder." 

They  reached  the  sand  spit  and  staggered  to  land,  while 
Harden  and  his  crew  turned  the  Ida  over  and  beached 
her.  She  had  a  six-inch  gap  in  her  side. 

"  Well,"  panted  Enoch,  "  I'm  glad  we  managed  to 
keep  dry  during  the  rainstorm !  " 

"My  Lord,  Judge!"  exclaimed  Milton,  "your  own 
mother  wouldn't  own  you  now!  I  don't  see  how  one 
human  being  could  carry  so  much  mud  on  his  face!  " 

"  I'll  bet  it's  not  as  bad  as  yours  at  that,"  returned 
Enoch.  "  Jonas,  as  long  as  it's  not  the  Na-che  that's 
hurt—" 

"  Coming,  boss,  coming!  "  cried  Jonas.  "  Here's  your 
moccasins  and  here's  your  suit.  Sure  you  aren't  hurt 
any?" 

"  Jonas,"  replied  Enoch  in  a  low  voice  that  the  others 
might  not  hear,  "  Jonas,  I'm  having  the  greatest  time  of 
my  life!" 

"  So  am  I,  Mr.  Secretary !  Honest,  I'm  so  paralyzed 
afraid  that  I  enjoy  it!  "  And  Jonas  hurried  away  to  in 
spect  the  Ida. 

It  was  so  biting  cold,  now  that  the  afternoon  was  late, 
that  all  the  wrecked  crew  changed  clothing  before  at 
tempting  to  make  camp  or  unload  the  Ida. 

"  How  many  miles  have  we  made  by  this  venture, 
Milton?  "  called  Enoch,  as  he  pulled  on  his  moccasins. 

"  One  and  a  half !  " 

Enoch  grinned,  then  he  began  to  laugh.  The  others 
looked  at  him,  then  joined  him,  and  Homeric  laughter 
echoed  for  a  long  minute  above  the  snarl  of  the  water. 
Fortunately  the  hole  in  the  Ida  did  not  open  into  one  of 


THE  PERFECT  ADVENTURE         215 

the  compartments,  so  there  was  no  damage  done  to  the 
baggage.  It  was  too  dark  by  the  time  this  had  been 
ascertained  to  attempt  repairs  that  night,  so  Milton  agreed 
to  call  it  a  day,  and  after  supper  was  over  every  one  but 
Enoch  and  Milton  went  to  bed.  These  two  sat  long  in 
silence  before  the  fire,  smoking  and  enjoying  the  sense 
of  companionship  that  was  developing  between  them. 
Finally  Enoch  spoke  in  a  low  voice : 

"  You're  going  to  have  trouble  between  Forrester  and 
Harden." 

"  It  certainly  looks  like  it.  I've  tried  every  sort  of 
appeal  to  each  of  them,  but  trouble  keeps  on  smoldering." 
Milton  shook  his  head.  "  That's  one  of  the  trivial  things 
that  can  wreck  an  expedition  like  this;  just  incompati 
bility  among  the  men.  What  would  you  do  about  it, 
Judge?" 

"I'd  put  it  to  them  that  they  could  either  keep  the 
peace  or  draw  lots  to  see  which  of  them  should  leave  the 
expedition  at  the  Ferry.  In  fact,  I  don't  believe  I'd 
temporize  even  that  much.  I'd  certainly  set  one  of  them 
ashore.  My  experience  with  men  leads  me  to  believe  that 
with  a  certain  type  of  men,  there  is  no  appeal.  As  you 
say,  they're  both  nice  chaps  but  they  have  a  childish  streak 
in  them.  The  majority  of  men  have.  A  leader  must 
not  be  too  patient." 

"  You're  right,"  agreed  Milton.  "  Judge,  couldn't  you 
complete  the  trip  with  us  ?  " 

"  How  long  will  you  be  out  ?  "  asked  Enoch. 

"  Another  six  months !  " 

Enoch  laughed,  then  said  slowly :  "  There's  nothing 
I'd  like  to  do  better,  but  I  must  go  home,  from  the 
Ferry." 

Milton  gazed  at  Enoch  for  a  time  without  speaking. 
Then  he  said,  a  little  wistfully,  "  I  suppose  that  while  this 
is  the  most  important  experience  so  far  in  my  life,  to  you 
it  is  the  merest  episode,  that  you'll  forget  the  moment 
you  get  into  the  Pullman  for  the  East." 

"  Why  should  you  think  that  ?  "  asked  Enoch. 

••••I  can't  quite  tell  you  why.     But  there's  something 


216         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

about  you  that  makes  me  believe  that  in  your  own  section 
of  the  country,  you're  a  power.  Perhaps  it's  merely 
your  facial  expression.  I  don't  know  —  you  look  like 
some  one  whom  I  can't  recall.  Perhaps  that  some  one 
has  the  power  and  I  confuse  the  two  of  you,  but  —  I  beg 
your  pardon,  Judge !  "  as  Enoch's  eyebrows  went  up. 

"  You  have  nothing  to  beg  it  for,  Milton.  But  you're 
wrong  when  you  think  this  trip  is  merely  an  episode  to  me. 
All  my  life  I  have  longed  for  just  such  an  experience  in 
the  Canyon.  It's  like  enchantment  to  really  find  myself 
here." 

Milton  smiled.     "  Well,  we  all  have  our  Carcasonnes." 

"  What's  yours?  "  demanded  Enoch. 

The  younger  man  hesitated.  "  It's  so  absurd  —  but  — 
well,  I've  always  wanted  to  be  Chief  of  the  Geological 
Survey." 

"Why?" 

"  Why  did  you  dream  of  a  wild  trip  down  the  Colo* 
rado  as  the  realization  of  your  greatest  desire  ?  "  asked 
Milton. 

"  I  couldn't  put  it  into  words,"  answered  Enoch.  "  But 
I  suppose  it's  the  pioneer  in  me  or  something  elemental 
that  never  quite  dies  in  any  of  us,  of  Anglo-Saxon  blood/' 

Milton  nodded.  "  The  Chief  of  the  Geological  Sur 
vey's  job  is  to  administer  nature  in  the  raw.  I'd  like  to 
have  a  chance  at  it." 

"  I  believe  you'd  get  away  with  it,  too,  Milton,"  Enoch 
replied  thoughtfully. 

Milton  laughed.  "  Too  bad  you  aren't  Secretary  of 
the  Interior!  Well,  I'm  all  in!  Let's  go  to  bed." 

"  You  go  ahead.  I'll  sit  here  with  my  pipe  a  bit 
longer." 

But,  after  all,  Enoch  did  not  write  in  his  diary  that 
night.  Before  Milton  had  established  himself  in  his  blan 
kets,  Harden  rose  and  went  to  a  canteen  for  a  drink  of 
water.  On  his  return  he  stumbled  over  Forrester's  feet. 
Instantly  Forrester  sat  erect. 

"  What' re  you  doing,  you  clumsy  club  foot?"  he 
shouted. 


THE  PERFECT  ADVENTURE         217 

"  Oh,  dry  up,  Forr ;  I  didn't  mean  to  hurt  you,  you 
great  boob!  " 

"  We'll  settle  this  right  now !  "  Forrester  was  on  his 
feet  and  his  fist  had  landed  on  Harden's  cheek  before 
Enoch  could  cross  the  camp.  And  before  he  or  Milton 
could  separate  the  combatants,  Harden  had  returned  the 
blow  with  interest,  and  with  a  muttered : 
'  Take  that,  you  sore-headed  dog,  you !  " 

Forrester  tried  to  twist  away  from  Enoch,  but  could 
not  do  so.  Harden  freed  himself  from  Milton's  grasp, 
but  did  not  attempt  to  go  on  with  the  fight. 

"  One  or  the  other  of  you,"  said  Milton  briefly,  "  leaves 
the  expedition  at  the  Ferry.  I'll  tell  you  later  which  it 
will  be.  I'm  ashamed  of  both  of  you." 

"  I'd  like  to  know  what's  made  a  tin  god  of  you,  Jim 
Milton!  "  shouted  Forrester.  "  You  don't  own  us,  body 
and  soul.  I've  been  in  the  Survey  longer  than  you!  I 
joined  this  expedition  before  you  did.  And  I'll  leave  it 
when  I  get  ready !  " 

;'  You'll  leave  it  at  the  Ferry,  Forrester !  "  Milton's 
voice  was  quiet,  but  his  nostrils  dilated. 

"  And  I'm  telling  you,  I'll  leave  it  when  I  please,  which 
will  be  at  Needles!  If  any  one  goes,  it'll  be  that  skunk 
of  a  Harden." 

Harden  laughed,  turned  on  his  heel  and  deliberately 
rolled  himself  in  his  blankets.  Forrester  stood  for  a  mo 
ment,  muttering  to  himself,  then  he  took  his  blankets  off 
to  an  obscure  corner  of  the  sand.  And  Enoch  forgot  his 
diary  and  went  to  bed,  to  ponder  until  shortly  sleep  over 
took  him,  on  the  perversity  of  the  male  animal. 

In  the  morning  Jonas  constituted  himself  ship's  car 
penter  and  mended  the  Ida  very  creditably.  Forrester 
was  surly  and  avoided  every  one.  Harden  was  cheerful, 
as  usual,  but  did  not  speak  to  his  adversary.  The  sun  was 
just  entering  the  Canyon  when  the  two  boats  were 
launched  and  once  more  faced  the  hazards  of  the  river. 

During  the  morning  the  going  was  easy.  The  river 
was  swift  and  led  through  a  long  series  of  broken  buttes, 
between  which  one  caught  wild  views  of  a  tortured  coun- 


2i8          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

try;  twisted  strata,  strange  distorted  cedar  and  cactus, 
uncanny  shapes  of  rock  pinnacles,  in  colors  somber  and 
strange.  They  stopped  at  noon  in  the  shadow  of  a  weath 
ered  overhanging  rock,  with  the  profile  of  a  witch.  The 
atmosphere  of  dissension  had  by  this  time  permeated  the 
crew  and  this  meal,  usually  so  jovial,  was  eaten  with  no 
general  conversation  and  all  were  glad  to  take  to  the 
boats  as  soon  as  the  dishes  were  washed. 

The  character  of  the  river  now  changed  again.  It 
grew  broader  and  once  more  smooth  canyon  walls  closed 
it  in.  As  the  river  broadened,  however,  it  became  more 
shallow  and  rocks  began  to  appear  above  the  surface  at 
more  and  more  frequent  intervals.  At  last  the  Na-che 
went  aground  amid-stream  on  a  sharp  rock.  The  Ida 
turned  back  to  her  assistance  but  Enoch  and  Milton  had 
to  go  overboard,  along  with  the  crew  of  the  Na-che,  in 
order  to  drag  and  lift  her  into  clear  water.  Then  for 
nearly  two  hours,  all  thought  of  rowing  must  be  given 
up.  Both  crews  remained  in  the  water,  pushing  the  boats 
over  the  rough  bottom. 

It  was  heartbreaking  work.  For  a  few  moments  the 
boats  would  float,  plunging  the  men  beyond  their  depths. 
They  would  swim  and  flounder  perhaps  a  boat's  length, 
clinging  to  the  gunwale,  before  the  boat  would  once  more 
run  aground.  Again  they  would  drag  their  clumsy  bur 
den  a  hundred  yards  over  sand  that  sucked  hungrily  at 
their  sodden  boots.  This  passed,  came  many  yards  of 
smooth  rock  a  few  inches  below  the  surface  of  the  water, 
which  was  so  muddy  that  it  was  impossible  to  see  the  pot 
holes  into  which  some  one  of  the  crew  plunged  constantly. 

Jonas  suffered  agonies  during  this  period;  not  for  him 
self,  though  he  took  his  full  share  of  falls.  His  agony 
was  for  the  Na-che,  whose  freshly  painted  bottom  was 
abraded,  scraped,  gorged  and  otherwise  defaced  almost 
beyond  Jonas's  power  of  endurance. 

"  Look  out!  Don't  drag  her!  Lift  her!  Lift  her!  " 
he  would  shout.  "  Oh,  my  Lord,  see  that  sharp  rock  you 
drag  her  onto,  Mr.  Hard!  Ain't  you  got  any  heart?  " 

Once,  when  all  three  of  the  Na-che's  crew  had  taken 


THE  PERFECT  ADVENTURE          219 

a  bad  plunge,  and  Jonas  had  come  up  with  an  audible 
crack  of  his  black  head  against  the  gunwale,  he  began 
to  scold  while  the  others  were  still  fighting  for  breath. 

"  You  shouldn't  ship  her  full  of  water  like  that !  All 
that  good  paint  I  put  on  her  insides  is  gone!  Hey,  Mr. 
Agnew,  don't  drip  that  blood  off  your  hand  on  her !  " 

"  Shut  up,  Jonas,"  coughed  Agnew  good-naturedly. 

"Let  him  alone,  Ag!"  exclaimed  Harden,  between  a 
strangling  cough  and  a  sneeze.  "  What  do  you  want  to 
divulge  your  cold-heartedness  for?  Go  to  it,  Jonas! 
You're  some  lover,  all  right !  " 

The  shallows  ended  in  a  rapid  which  they  shot  without 
more  than  the  usual  difficulties.  They  then  had  an  hour 
of  quiet  rowing  through  gorges  that  grew  more  narrow 
and  more  dusky  as  they  proceeded.  About  four  o'clock 
snow  began  to  fall.  It  was  a  light  enough  powder,  at 
first,  but  shortly  it  thickened  until  it  was  impossible  to 
guide  the  boats.  They  edged  in  shore  where  a  ledge 
overhanging  a  heap  of  broken  rock  offered  a  meager 
shelter.  Here  they  planned  to  spend  the  night.  The 
shore  was  too  precipitous  to  beach  the  boats.  Much  to 
Jonas'  sorrow,  they  could  only  anchor  them  before  the 
ledge.  There  was  plenty  of  driftwood,  and  a  brisk  fire 
dispelled  some  of  the  discomfort  of  the  snow,  while  a 
change  to  dry  clothing  did  the  rest. 

To  Enoch  it  was  a  strange  evening.  The  foolish  quar 
rel  between  Harden  and  Forrester  was  sufficient  to  upset 
the  equanimity  of  the  whole  group  which  before  had 
seemed  so  harmonious.  The  situation  was  keenly  irri 
tating  to  Enoch.  He  wanted  nothing  to  intrude  on  the 
wild  beauty  of  the  trip,  save  his  own  inward  struggle. 
The  snow  continued  to  fall  long  after  the  others  had  gone 
to  sleep.  Enoch,  with  his  diary  on  his  knees,  wrote 
slowly,  pausing  long  between  sentences  to  watch  the  snow 
and  to  listen  to  the  solemn  rush  of  waters  so  close  to  his 
feet. 

"  I've  been  sitting  before  the  fire,  Diana,  thinking  of 
our  various  conversations.  How  few  they  have  been, 


220         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

after  all!  And  I've  concluded  that  in  your  heart  you 
must  look  on  me  as  presumptuous  and  stupid.  You 
never  have  given  me  the  slightest  indication  that  you 
cared  for  me.  You  have  been,  even  in  the  short  time  we 
have  known  each  other,  a  gallant  and  tender  friend.  A 
wonderful  friend!  And  you  are  as  unconscious  of  my 
passion  for  you,  of  the  rending  agony  of  my  giving  you 
up  as  the  Canyon  is  of  the  travail  of  Milton  and  his  little 
group.  And  I'm  glad  that  this  is  so.  If  I  can  go  on 
through  life  feeling  that  you  are  serene  and  happy  it 
will  help  me  to  keep  my  secret.  Strange  that  with  every 
natural  inclination  within  me  to  be  otherwise,  I  should 
be  the  custodian  of  ugly  secrets;  secrets  that  are  only  the 
uglier  because  they  are  my  own.  It  seems  a  sacrilegious 
thing  to  add  my  beautiful  love  for  you  to  the  sinister 
collection.  But  it  must  be  so. 

"  I  am  so  glad  that  I  am  going  to  see  you  so  soon 
after  I  emerge  from  the  Canyon.  There  will  be  much  to 
tell  you.  I  thought  I  knew  men.  But  I  am  learning 
them  anew.  And  I  thought  I  had  a  fair  conception  of 
the  wonders  of  the  Colorado.  Diana,  it  is  beyond  hu 
man  imagination  to  conceive  or  human  tongue  to  de 
scribe." 

Enoch  had  looked  forward  with  eager  pleasure  to  see 
ing  the  Canyon  snowbound.  But  he  was  doomed  to  dis 
appointment.  During  the  night  the  snow  turned  to  rain. 
The  rain,  in  turn,  ceased  before  dawn  and  the  camp  woke 
to  winding  mists  that  whirled  with  the  wind  up  and  out 
of  the  Canyon  top.  The  going,  during  the  morning,  of 
fered  no  great  difficulties.  But  toward  noon,  as  the  boats 
rounded  a  curve,  a  reef  presented  itself  with  the  water 
of  the  river  boiling  threateningly  on  either  side.  As  the 
Canyon  walls  offered  no  landing  it  was  necessary  to  make 
one  here  and  Forrester  volunteered  to  jump  with  a  rope  to 
a  flat  rock  which  projected  from  the  near  end  of  the  reef. 

"  Leap  just  before  we  are  opposite  the  rock,  Forr," 
directed  Milton.  "  When  that  rough  water  catches  us, 
we're  going  to  rip  through  at  top  speed." 


THE  PERFECT  ADVENTURE         221 

Forrester  nodded  and,  after  shipping  his  oars,  he  clam 
bered  up  onto  the  forward  compartment. 

"  Now,"  shouted  Milton. 

Forrester  leaped,  jumped  a  little  short,  and  splashed 
into  the  boiling  river.  The  Ida,  in  spite  of  Enoch  madly 
backing  water,  shot  forward,  dragging  Forrester,  who 
had  not  let  go  the  rope,  with  her.  Milton  relinquished 
the  steering  oar,  dropped  on  his  stomach  on  the  compart 
ment  deck,  his  arms  over  the  stern,  and  began  to  haul 
with  might  and  main  on  the  rope.  Now  and  again  For 
rester,  red  and  righting  for  breath,  showed  a  distorted 
face  above  the  waves.  The  Na-che  shot  by  at  uncon 
trollable  speed,  her  crew  shouting  directions  as  she  passed. 
Milton  at  last,  just  as  the  Ida  entered  a  roaring  fall, 
brought  Forrester  to  the  gunwale,  but  having  achieved 
this,  the  end  of  the  rope  dropped  from  his  fingers  and  he 
lay  inert,  his  eyes  closed.  Forrester  clung  to  the  edge 
of  the  boat  and  roared  to  Enoch : 

"  Milt's  fainted !  " 

But  Enoch,  fighting  to  guide  the  Ida,  dared  not  stop 
rowing.  The  falls  were  short,  with  a  vicious  whirlpool 
at  the  foot.  One  glance  showed  the  Na-che  broken  and 
inverted,  dancing  in  this.  Enoch  bent  to  his  right  oar 
and  by  a  miracle  of  luck  this,  with  a  wave  from  a  pot 
hole,  threw  them  clear  of  the  sucking  whirlpool,  but 
dashed  them  so  violently  against  the  rocky  shore  that  the 
Ida's  stern  was  stove  in  and  Milton  rolled  off  into  the 
water.  Enoch  dropped  his  oars,  seized  the  stern  rope, 
jumped  for  the  rocks  and  sprawled  upon  one.  He  made 
a  quick  turn  of  the  rope,  then  leaped  back  for  Milton, 
whose  head  showed  a  boat's  length  downstream. 

Forrester  staggered  ashore,  then  with  a  life  preserver 
on  the  end  of  a  rope,  he  started  along  the  river's  edge. 
Half  a  dozen  strokes  brought  Enoch  to  Milton.  He 
lifted  the  unconscious  man's  mouth  out  of  water  and 
caught  the  life  preserver  that  Forrester  threw  him.  It 
seemed  for  a  moment  as  if  poor  Forrester  had  reached 
the  limit  of  his  strength,  but  Enoch,  after  a  violent  effort, 
brought  Milton  into  a  quiet  eddy  and  here  Forrester  was 


222         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

able  to  give  help  and  Milton  was  dragged  up  on  the 
rocks. 

At  this  moment,  Jonas,  his  eyes  rolling,  clothes  torn  and 
dripping,  clambered  round  a  rocky  projection,  just  be 
yond  where  they  were  placing  Milton. 

"  Got  'em  ashore !  "  he  panted,  "  but  they  can't  walk 
yet." 

"  Anybody  hurt?  "  asked  Enoch. 

"  Nobody  but  the  Na-che.  I  gotta  take  the  Ida  out 
after  her." 

"  She's  beyond  help,  Jonas,"  said  Enoch.  "  Go  up 
to  the  Ida  and  bring  me  the  medicine  chest." 

He  was  unbuttoning  Milton's  shirt  as  he  spoke,  and 
feeling  for  his  heart. 

"He's  alive!"  exclaimed  Forrester,  who  was  holding 
Milton's  wrist. 

"Yes,  thank  God!  But  I  don't  like  that!"  pointing 
to  Milton's  left  leg. 

"  It's  broken !  "  cried  Forrester.     "  Poor  old  Milt !  " 

Poor  old  Milt,  indeed!  When  he  finally  opened  his 
eyes,  he  was  lying  on  his  blankets  on  a  flat  rock,  and 
Jonas  and  Harden,  still  dripping,  were  finishing  the  fas 
tenings  of  a  rude  splint  around  his  left  leg.  Enoch  was 
kindling  a  fire.  Forrester  and  Agnew  were  unloading 
the  Ida.  He  tried  to  sit  up. 

"What  the  deuce  happened?"  he  demanded. 

"  That's  what  we  want  to  know !  "  exclaimed  Harden 
cheerfully. 

"  You  had  a  dizzy  attack  after  you  pulled  Forr  in," 
said  Enoch,  "  and  rolled  off  the  boat.  Just  how  you 
broke  your  leg,  we  don't  know." 

"  Broke  my  leg!  "  Dismay  and  disbelief  struggled  in 
Milton's  face.  "  Broke  my  leg!  Why,  but  I  can't  break 
my  leg !  " 

"  That's  good  news,"  said  Agnew  unsmilingly,  "  and 
it  would  be  important  if  it  were  only  true." 

"  But  I  can't !  "  insisted  Milton.  "  What  becomes  of 
the  work  ?  " 

"  The  work  stops  till  you  get  well."     Harden  stood 


THE  PERFECT  ADVENTURE         223 

up  to  survey  his  and  Jonas's  surgical  job  with  consid 
erable  satisfaction.  "  We'll  hurry  on  down  to  the  Ferry 
and  get  you  to  a  doctor." 

Milton  sank  back  with  a  groan,  then  hoisted  himself 
to  his  elbow  to  say : 

;<  You  fellows  change  your  clothes  quick,  now." 

The  men  looked  at  each  other,  half  guilty. 

"  What  is  it !  "  cried  Milton.  "  What  are  you  keeping 
from  me." 

'  The  Na-che's  gone !  "     Jonas  spoke  huskily. 

"  How'd  she  go?  "  demanded  Milton. 

"  A  sucking  whirlpool  up  there  took  her,  after  we 
struck  a  rock  at  the  bottom  of  the  falls,"  answered  Har 
den.  "  We  struck  at  such  speed  that  it  stove  in  her  bot 
tom  and  threw  us  clear  of  the  whirlpool.  But  she's  gone 
and  everything  in  her." 

"  How  about  the  Ida?  "  Milton's  face  was  white  and 
his  lips  were  compressed. 

"  She'll  do,  with  some  patching,"  replied  Enoch. 

"  Some  leader,  I  am,  eh  ?  "  Milton  lay  back  on  his 
blanket. 

"  I  think  I've  heard  of  a  number  of  other  leaders  los 
ing  boats  on  this  trip,"  said  Enoch.  "  Now,  you  fellows 
can  dry  off  piecemeal.  This  fire  would  dry  anything. 
\\Vve  got  to  shift  Milton's  clothes  somehow.  Lucky  for 
you  your  clothes  were  in  the  Ida,  Milt.  Mine  were  in 
the  Na-che." 

"  And  two  thirds  of  the  grub  in  the  Na-che,  too !  "  ex 
claimed  Agnew. 

Jonas  had  rooted  out  Milton's  change  of  clothing  and 
very  tenderly,  if  awkwardly,  Agnew  and  Harden  helping, 
he  was  made  dry  and  propped  up  where  he  could  direct 
proceedings. 

"  Forrester,  I  wish  you'd  bring  the  whole  grub  supply 
here,"  Milton  said,  when  his  nurses  had  finished. 

It  was  a  pitifully  small  collection  that  was  placed  on 
the  edge  of  the  blanket. 

"  I  wonder  how  many  times,"  said  Milton,  "  I've  told 
you  chaps  to  load  thi  grub  half  and  half  between  the 


224         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

boats?  Somebody  blundered.  I'm  not  going  to  ask 
who  because  I'm  the  chief  blunderer  myself,  for  neglect 
ing  to  check  you  over,  at  every  loading.  With  care,  we've 
about  two  days'  very  scanty  rations  here,  and  only  beans 
and  coffee,  at  that.  With  the  best  of  luck  and  no  stops 
for  Survey  work  we're  five  days  from  the  Ferry." 

"Guess  I'd  better  get  busy  with  my  fishing  tackle!" 
exclaimed  Forrester. 

"  Ain't  any  fishing  tackle,"  said  Jonas  succinctly. 
"  She  must  'a'  washed  out  of  the  hole  in  the  Ida.  I  was 
just  looking  for  it  myself." 

"  Suppose  you  put  us  on  half  rations,"  suggested 
Enoch,  "  and  one  of  us  will  try  to  get  to  the  top,  with 
the  gun." 

Milton  nodded.  "Judge,  are  you  any  good  with  a 
gun?  " 

'  Yes,  I've  hunted  a  good  deal,"  replied  Enoch. 

"  Very  well,  we'll  make  you  the  camp  hunter.  The 
rest  understand  the  river  work  better  than  you.  For 
rester,  you  and  Agnew  and  Jonas,  patch  up  the  Ida;  and 
Harden,  you  stay  with  me  and  let's  see  what  the  maps 
say  about  the  chances  of  our  getting  out  before  we  reach 
the  Ferry.  When  the  rest  have  finished  the  patch,  you 
and  Agnew  row  downstream  and  see  if  you  can  pick 
up  any  wreckage  from  the  Na-che." 

Jonas  made  some  coffee  and  Enoch,  after  resting  for 
a  half  hour,  took  the  gun  and  started  slowly  along  the 
river's  edge. 

His  course  was  necessarily  downstream  for,  above 
the  heap  of  stones  where  he  had  tied  the  Ida,  the  river 
washed  against  a  wall  on  which  a  fly  could  scarcely  have 
found  foothold.  There  was  a  depression  in  the  wall, 
where  the  camp  was  set.  Enoch  worked  out  of  this  de 
pression  and  found  a  foothold  on  the  bottom-most  of  the 
deep  weathered,  narrow  strata  that  here  formed  a  fifty- 
foot  terrace.  These  terraced  strata  gave  back  for  half 
a  mile  in  uneven  and  brittle  striations  that  were  not  un-. 
like  rude  steps.  Above  them  rose  a  sheer  orange  wall, 
straight  to  the  sky.  Far  below  a  great  shale  bank  sloped 


THE  PERFECT  ADVENTURE         225 

from  the  river's  edge  up  to  a  gigantic  black  butte,  whose 
terraced  front  seemed  to  Enoch  to  offer  some  hope  of  his 
reaching  the  top. 

He  slung  the  gun  across  his  back  and  began  gingerly  to 
clamber  along  the  stratified  terrace.  He  found  the  rock 
extremely  brittle  and  he  was  a  long  hour  reaching  the 
green  shale.  He  was  panting  and  weary  and  his  hands 
were  bleeding  when  he  finally  flung  himself  down  to  rest 
at  the  foot  of  the  black  butte. 

A  near  view  of  this  massive  structure  was  not  encour 
aging;  terraces,  turrets,  fortifications,  castles  and  above 
Enoch's  head  a  deep  cavern,  out  of  which  the  wind 
rushed  with  a  mighty  blast  of  sound  that  drowned  the 
sullen  roar  of  the  falls.  Beyond  a  glance  in  at  the 
black  void,  Enoch  did  not  attempt  to  investigate  the  cave. 
He  crept  past  the  opening  on  a  narrow  shelf  of  rock, 
into  a  crevice  up  which  he  climbed  to  the  top  of  the  ter 
race  above  the  cavern.  Here  a  stratum  of  dull  purple 
projected  horizontally  from  the  black  face  of  the  butte. 
With  his  face  inward,  his  breast  hard  pressed  against  the 
rock,  hands  and  feet  feeling  carefully  for  each  shift  for 
ward,  Enoch  passed  on  this  slowly  around  the  sharp 
western  edge  of  the  butte. 

Here  he  nearly  lost  his  balance,  for  there  was  a  rush 
of  wings  close  to  the  back  of  his  head.  He  started,  then 
looked  up  carefully.  Far  above  him  an  eagle's  nest  clung 
to  the  lonely  rock.  The  purple  stratum  continued  its 
way  to  a  depression  wide  enough  to  give  Enoch  sitting 
room.  Here  he  rested  for  a  short  moment.  The  back 
of  the  depression  offered  an  easy  assent  for  two  or  three 
hundred  feet,  to  the  top  of  another  terrace  along  whose 
broad  top  Enoch  walked  comfortably  for  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  to  the  point  where  the  butte  projected  from  the  main 
canyon  wall.  The  slope  here  was  not  too  steep  to  climb 
and  Enoch  made  fair  speed  to  the  top. 

The  view  here  was  superb  but  Enoch  gave  small  heed 
to  this.  To  his  deep  disappointment,  there  was  no  sign 
of  life,  either  animal  or  vegetable,  as  far  as  his  eye 
could  reach.  He  stood,  gun  in  hand,  the  wind  tossing 


226          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

his  ruddy  hair,  his  great  shoulders  drooping  with  weari 
ness,  his  keen  eyes  sweeping  the  landscape  until  he  be 
came  conscious  that  the  sun  was  low  in  the  west.  With 
a  start,  he  realized  that  dusk  must  already  be  peering  into 
the  bottom  of  the  Canyon. 

Then  he  bethought  himself  of  the  eagle's  nest.  It  was 
a  terrible  climb,  before  he  lay  on  a  ledge  peering  over 
into  the  guano-stained  structure  of  sticks  from  which 
the  eagle  soared  again  at  his  approach.  As  he  looked,  he 
laughed.  The  forequarters  of  a  mountain  goat  lay  in  the 
nest.  Hanging  perilously  by  one  hand,  Enoch  grasped 
the  long,  bloody  hair  and  then,  rolling  back  on  to  the 
ledge,  he  stuffed  his  loot  into  his  game  bag  and  started 
campward. 

The  way  back  was  swifter  but  more  nerve  wracking 
than  the  upward  climb  had  been.  By  the  time  he  reached 
the  green  shale,  Enoch  was  trembling  from  muscle  and 
nerve  strain.  It  was  purple  dusk  now,  by  the  river,  with 
the  castellated  tops  of  butte  and  mountain  molten  gold 
in  the  evening  sun.  When  he  reached  the  brittle  strata, 
the  water  reflected  firelight  from  the  still  unseen  camp 
blaze.  Enoch,  clinging  perilously  to  the  breaking  rock, 
half  faint  with  hunger,  his  fingers  numb  with  the  cold, 
laughed  again  to  himself,  and  said  aloud : 

"' .          And  yet 

Dauntless  the  slug  horn  to  my  lips  I  set 

And  blew,  Childe  Roland  to  the  Dark  Tower  Came.'" 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE    END    OF    THE    CRUISE 

"  Christ  could  forgive  the  unforgivable,  but  the  Colo 
rado  in  the  Canyon  is  like  the  voice  of  God,  inevitable. 
inexorable." 

—  Enoch's  Diary. 

JONAS  stood  on  a  projecting  rock  peering  anxiously 
down  the  river.     Enoch,  staggering  wearily  into  the 
firelight,  called  to  him  cheerfully : 

"  Ship  ahoy,  Jonas !  " 

"My  Gawd,  boss!"  exclaimed  Jonas,  running  up  to 
take  the  gunny  sack  and  the  gun.  "  Don't  you  never  go 
off  like  that  alone  again.  How  come  you  stayed  so 
late?" 

"  Now  the  Na-che's  gone  I  suppose  I'll  have  a  few  at 
tentions  again!"  said  Enoch.  "How  are  you,  Mil 
ton?" 

He  turned  toward  the  stalwart  figure  that  lay  on  the 
shadowy  rock  beyond  the  fire. 

"  Better  than  I  deserve,  Judge,"  replied  Milton. 

"What  luck,  Judge?"  cried  Harden,  who  had  been 
watching  a  game  of  poker  between  Agnew  and  For 
rester. 

"  My  Lawdy  Lawd !  "  shouted  Jonas,  emptying  the 
gunny  sack  on  the  rock  which  served  as  table. 

There  was  a  chorus  of  surprise. 

"  What  happened,  Judge !     Did  you  eat  the  rest  raw?  " 

"  A  goat,  by  Jove !  Where  on  earth  did  it  come 
from?" 

"  What  difference  does  that  make?  Get  it  into  the  pot, 
Jonas,  for  the  love  of  heaven !  " 

"  As  a  family  provider,  Judge,  you  are  to  be  highly 
recommended." 

227 


228          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

Enoch  squatted  against  Milton's  rock  and  complacently 
lighted  his  pipe,  then  told  his  story. 

"There  are  goats  still  here,  then!  I  wish  we'd  see 
some,"  said  Milton,  when  Enoch  had  finished. 

"  But  what  would  they  live  on  ?  "  asked  Enoch. 

"  That's  easy,"  replied  Milton.  "  There  are  hidden 
canyons  and  gulches  in  this  Colorado  country  that  are 
veritable  little  paradises,  with  all  the  verdure  any  one 
could  ask  for." 

"  Wish  we  could  locate  one,"  sighed  Forrester. 

"  That  wouldn't  help  me  much,"  grunted  Milton. 

"  What  luck  with  the  Ida  ?  "  Enoch  turned  to  Agnew 
who,  next  to  Jonas,  took  the  greatest  interest  in  ship  re 
pair  and  building. 

"  The  forward  compartment  was  pretty  well  smashed, 
but  another  hour's  work  in  the  morning  will  make  the 
old  girl  as  good  as  ever." 

"  She'll  never  be  the  boat  the  Na-che  was,"  groaned 
Jonas  mournfully  from  his  fire.  "  What  are  we  all  go 
ing  to  do  now,  with  just  one  boat?  " 

For  a  moment  no  one  spoke,  then  Enoch  said  drily, 
"  Well,  Jonas,  seeing  that  you  and  I  don't  really  belong 
to  the  expedition  anyhow  and  that  we  invited  ourselves, 
I  think  it's  up  to  us  to  walk." 

There  was  a  chorus  of  protests  at  this.  But  Enoch 
silenced  the  others  by  saying  with  great  earnestness  : 

"Milton,  you  know  I'm  right,  don't  you?" 

Milton,  who  had  been  saying  nothing,  now  raised  him 
self  on  his  elbow. 

"  Two  of  you  fellows  will  have  to  walk  it;  which  two 
we'd  better  decide  by  lot.  We're  up  against  a  rotten 
situation.  It  would  be  bad,  even  if  I  weren't  hurt.  But 
with  a  cripple  on  your  hands,  well  —  it's  awful  for  you 
chaps!  Simply  awful!  " 

"  With  good  luck,  and  no  Survey  work,  how  many 
days  are  we  from  the  Ferry  ?  "  asked  Enoch. 

"  Between  four  and  five,  is  what  Milton  and  I  calcu 
lated  this  afternoon,"  replied  Harden. 

"  What's  the  nearest  help  by  way  of  land?  " 


THE  END  OF  THE  CRUISE          229 

"  There's  a  ranch,  about  eighty  miles  south  of  here. 
I  guess  the  traveling  would  be  about  as  bad  as  anybody 
would  hope  for.  The  fellows  that  go  out  have  got  to 
be  used  to  desert  work,  like  me."  Harden  scratched  a 
match  and  by  its  unsteady  light  scrutinized  the  detail 
map  spread  open  on  his  knee. 

"  Isn't  Miss  Allen  working  nearer  than  eighty  miles 
from  here?  "  asked  Agnew. 

"  She's  in  the  Hopi  country,  whatever  distance  that 
may  be,"  replied  Enoch.  "  I  should  suppose  it  would  be 
rather  risky  trying  to  catch  some  one  who  is  moving 
about,  as  she  is." 

"  I  guess  maybe  she's  on  her  way  to  the  Ferry  now," 
Jonas  straightened  up  from  his  stew  pot.  "  Leastways, 
Na-che  kind  of  promised  to  kind  of  see  if  maybe  they 
couldn't  reach  there  about  the  time  we  did." 

The  other  men  laughed.  "  I  guess  we  won't  gamble 
too  heavily  on  the  women  folks,"  exclaimed  Forrester. 

"  I  guess  Miss  Allen's  the  kind  you  don't  connect 
gambling  with,"  retorted  Agnew. 

Enoch  cut  in  hastily.  "  Then  two  of  us  are  to  go 
out.  What  about  those  who  stay  ?  " 

"  Well,  you  have  to  get  my  helpless  carcass  aboard  the 
Ida  and  we'll  make  our  way  to  the  Ferry,  as  rapidly  as 
we  can.  The  food  problem  is  serious,  but  we  won't 
starve  in  four  days.  We  won't  attempt  any  more  hunt 
ing  expeditions  but  we  may  pot  something  as  we  go  along. 
It's  the  fellows  who  go  out  who'll  have  the  worst  of  it." 

Enoch  had  been  eying  Milton  closely.  "  Look  here, 
Milton,  I  believe  you're  running  a  good  deal  of  tempera 
ture.  Why  don't  you  lie  down  and  rest  both  mind  and 
body  until  supper's  ready?  After  you've  eaten,  we'll 
make  the  final  decisions." 

"  I  don't  want  any  food,"  replied  Milton,  dropping 
back  on  his  blankets,  nevertheless. 

"  The  beans  is  done  but  you  only  get  a  handful  of 
them  in  the  stew,  to-night,"  said  Jonas,  firmly.  "  I'm 
cooking  all  the  meat,  'cause  it  won't  keep,  but  you  only 
get  half  of  that  now." 


230         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

Agnew  groaned.  "  Well,  there  doesn't  seem  much 
to  look  forward  to.  Let's  finish  that  game  of  poker, 
Forr.  Take  a  hand,  Judge  and  Hard?  " 

"  No,  thanks,"  replied  Enoch.  "  I'll  just  rest  my  old 
bones  right  here." 

"  I'll  help  you  out,  if  Forr  won't  pick  on  me."  Harden 
glanced  at  Milton,  but  the  freckled  face  gave  no  sign 
that  Harden's  remark  had  been  heeded. 

Enoch  quietly  took  .the  injured  man's  pulse.  It  was 
rapid  and  weak.  Enoch  shook  his  head,  laid  the  sturdy 
hand  down  and  gave  his  attention  to  his  pipe  and  the 
card  game.  It  was  not  long  before  an  altercation  be 
tween  Forrester  and  Harden  began.  Several  times  Ag 
new  interfered  but  finally  Forrester  sprang  to  his  feet 
with  an  oath. 

"  No  man  on  earth  can  call  me  that !  "  shouted  Harden 
"  Take  it  back  and  apologize,  you  rotter !  " 

"A  rotter,  am  I?"  sneered  Forrester.  "And  what 
are  you?  You  come  of  a  family  of  rotters.  I  know 
your  sister's  history !  I  know  — " 

Enoch  laid  a  hand  on  Agnew's  arm.  "  Don't  inter 
fere!  Nothing  but  blood  will  wipe  that  out." 

But  Milton  roared  suddenly,  "  Stop  that  fight !  Stop 
it!  Judge!  Agnew!  I'm  still  head  of  this  expedi 
tion!" 

Reluctantly  the  two  moved  toward  the  swaying  figures 
It  was  not  an  easy  matter  to  stop  the  battle.  Forrester 
and  Harden  were  clinched  but  Enoch  and  Agnew  were 
larger  than  either  of  the  combatants  and  at  a  word  from 
Enoch,  Jonas  seized  Forrester,  with  Agnew.  After  a 
scuffle,  Harden  stood  silent  and  scowling  beside  Enoch, 
while  Forrester  panted  between  Agnew  and  Jonas. 

"  I'm  ashamed  of  you  fellows,"  shouted  Milton. 
"  Ashamed !  You  know  the  chief's  due  in  the  morning." 
He  stopped  abruptly.  "  I'm  ashamed  of  you.  You 
know  what  I  mean.  The  chief  —  God,  fellows,  I'm  a 
sick  man !  "  He  fell  back  heavily  on  his  blankets. 

Enoch  and  Harden  hurried  to  his  side.  "  Quit  your 
fighting,  Judge!  Quit  your  fighting!  "  muttered  Milton. 


THE  END  OF  THE  CRUISE  231 

"Here!  I'll  make  you  stop!"  He  tried  to  rise  and 
Jonas  rushed  to  hold  the  injured  leg  while  Harden  and 
Enoch  pressed  the  broad  shoulders  back  against  the  flinty 
bed.  It  was  several  moments  before  he  ceased  to  strug 
gle  and  dropped  into  a  dull  state  of  coma. 

"  It  doesn't  seem  as  if  a  broken  leg  ought  to  do  all 
that  to  a  man  as  husky  as  Milt!  "  said  Agnew,  who  had 
joined  them  with  a  proffer  of  water. 

"  I'm  afraid  he  was  sickening  with  something  before 
the  accident,"  Enoch  shook  his  head.  "  Those  dizzy 
spells  were  all  wrong,  you  know." 

"  We'd  better  get  this  boy  to  a  doctor  as  soon  as  we 
can,"  said  Agnew.  "  Poor  old  Milton !  I  swear  it's  a 
shame!  His  whole  heart  was  set  on  putting  this  trip 
through." 

"  He'll  do  it  yet,"  Enoch  patted  the  sick  man's  arm. 

"  Yes,  but  he'll  be  laid  up  for  months  and  his  whole 
idea  was  to  put  it  through  without  a  break.  The  De 
partment  never  condones  accidents,  you  know." 

"  I  guess  I  can  give  you  all  some  supper  now,"  said 
Jonas.  "  Better  get  it  while  he's  laying  quiet." 

"  Where's  Forrester?"  asked  Enoch  as  they  gathered 
round  the  stew  pot. 

"  He  mumbled  something  about  going  outside  to  cool 
down,"  replied  Agnew.  "  Better  let  him  alone  for  a 
while." 

"  Too  bad  you  couldn't  have  kept  the  peace,  under  the 
circumstances,  Harden,"  said  Enoch. 

"  You  heard  what  he  said  to  me  ?  "  demanded  Harden 
fiercely. 

"  Yes,  I  did  and  I  heard  you  deliberately  tease  him  into 
a  fury.  Of  course,  after  what  he  finally  said  there  was 
nothing  left  to  do  but  to  smash  him,"  said  Enoch. 

"  I  don't  see  why,"  Agnew  spoke  in  his  calm  way. 
"  I  never  could  understand  why  a  bloody  nose  wiped  out 
an  insult.  A  thing  that's  said  is  said.  Shooting  a  man 
even  doesn't  unsay  a  dirty  speech.  It's  not  common 
sense.  Why  ruin  your  own  life  in  the  effort  to  punish 
a  man  for  something  that's  better  forgotten?  " 


232          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  So  you  would  swallow  an  insult  and  smile  ?  "  sneered 
Harden. 

"  Not  at  all !  I  wouldn't  hear  the  alleged  insult,  in 
most  cases.  But  if  the  thing  was  so  raw  that  the  man 
had  to  be  punished,  I'd  really  hurt  him." 

"How?"  asked  Enoch. 

"  I'd  do  him  a  favor." 

"  Slush !  "  grunted  Harden. 

Agnew  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  the  scanty  meal  was 
finished  in  silence.  When  Jonas  had  collected  the  pie 
tins  and  cups,  Enoch  said, 

"  While  you're  outside  with  those,  Jonas,  you'd  better 
persuade  Forrester  to  come  in  to  supper.  Tell  him  no 
one  will  bother  him.  Boys,  I  think  we  oughf  to  sit  up 
with  Milton  for  a  while.  I'll  take  the  first  watch,  if 
you'll  take  the  second,  Harden." 

Harden  nodded.  "  I'll  get  to  bed  at  once.  Call  me 
when  you  want  me." 

He  rolled  himself  in  his  blanket,  Agnew  following  his 
example.  A  moment  or  so  later  Jonas  could  be  heard 
calling, 

"Mr.  Forrester!  Ohee!  Mr.  Forrester !"  The  Can 
yon  echoed  the  call,  but  there  was  no  answer.  Enoch 
strolled  down  to  the  river's  edge  where  Jonas  was  stand 
ing  with  his  arms  full  of  dishes.  "  What's  up,  Jonas?  " 
he  asked. 

"  Boss,  I  think  he's  lit  out !  " 

"Lit  out?     Where,  Jonas?" 

"  Well,  there's  only  one  way,  like  you  went  this  after 
noon.  But  his  canteen's  gone.  And  he  had  his  shoes 
drying  by  the  fire.  He  must  have  sneaked  'em  while  we 
was  working  over  Mr.  Milton,  because  they're  gone,  and 
so's  his  coat  that  was  lying  by  the  Ida,  with  the  rest  of 
the  clothes." 

Enoch  lifted  his  great  voice.  "Forrester!  Forres 
ter!" 

A  thousand  echoes  replied  while  Agnew  joined  them 
and  in  a  moment,  Harden.  Jonas  repeated  his  story. 


THE  END  OF  THE  CRUISE          233 

"No  use  yelling!"  exclaimed  Enoch.  "Let's  build 
a  fire  out  here." 

"  Do  you  suppose  he's  had  an  accident  ?  "  Enoch's  voice 
was  apprehensive. 

"  No,  I  don't,"  replied  Agnew,  stoutly.  "  He's  told 
me  two  or  three  times  that  if  he  had  any  real  trouble 
with  Hard,  he'd  get  out.  What  a  fool  to  start  off,  this 
way !  " 

"  You  fellows  go  to  bed,"  Harden  spoke  abruptly. 
"  I'll  keep  a  fire  going  and  if  Milt  needs  more  than  me, 
I'll  call.  The  Judge  had  a  heavy  afternoon  and  I  was 
resting.  And  this  row  is  mine  anyhow." 

Enoch,  who  was  dropping  with  fatigue  needed  no 
urging.  He  rolled  himself  in  his  blanket  and  instantly 
was  deep  in  the  marvelous  slumber  that  had  blessed  him 
since  the  voyage  began. 

It  was  dawn  when  he  woke.  He  started  to  his  feet, 
contritely,  wondering  who  of  the  others  had  sacrificed 
sleep  for  him.  But  Enoch  was  the  only  one  awake. 
Milton  was  tossing  and  muttering  but  his  eyes  were 
closed.  Jonas  lay  with  his  feet  in  last  night's  ashes. 
Agnew  was  curled  up  at  Milton's  feet.  Harden  was  not 
to  be  seen.  Enoch  hurried  to  the  river's  edge.  A  sheet 
of  paper  fluttered  from  the  split  end  of  a  stake  that 
had  been  stuck  in  a  conspicuous  spot.  It  was  unad- 
dressed  and  Enoch  opened  it. 

"  I  have  gone  to  find  Forrester,  and  help  him  out.  I 
took  one-third  of  the  grub  and  one  of  the  guns  and  a 
third  of  the  shells.  If  we  have  good  luck,  you'll  hear 
of  us  at  the  Ferry.  I  have  the  detail  map  of  this  section. 

"  C.  L.  HARDEN." 

Enoch  looked  from  the  note  up  to  the  golden  pink  of 
the  sky.  Far  above  the  butte  an  eagle  soared.  The 
dawn  wind  ruffled  his  hair.  He  drew  a  deep  breath  and 
turned  to  wake  Jonas  and  Agnew,  and  show  them  the 
note. 


234          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  Did  you  folks  go  to  sleep  when  I  did  ?  "  asked  Enoch 
when  they  had  read  the  note  in  silence. 

Jonas  and  Agnew  nodded. 

"  Then  he  must  have  left  at  once.  No  fire  has  been 
built  out  in  front." 

"  Well,  it's  solved  the  problem  of  who  walks,"  re 
marked  Agnew,  drily. 

"  How  come  Mr.  Harden  to  think  he  could  find  him?  " 
demanded  Jonas,  excitedly. 

"  Well,  they  both  will  have  had  to  start  where  I  did. 
yesterday.  And  neither  could  have  gone  very  far  in 
the  dark."  Enoch  spoke  thoughtfully.  "If  they  don't 
kill  each  other!" 

"  They  won't,"  interrupted  Agnew  comfortingly. 
"  Neither  of  them  is  the  killing  kind." 

'  Then  I  suggest,"  said  Enoch,  "  that  with  all  the  dis 
patch  possible  we  get  on  our  way.  You  two  tackle  the 
Ida  and  I'll  take  care  of  Milton  and  the  breakfast." 

"  Aye!  Aye,  sir!  "  Agnew  turned  quickly  toward  the 
boat,  followed  eagerly  by  Jonas. 

Milton  opened  his  eyes  when  Enoch  bent  over  him. 
"  Let  me  give  you  a  sip  of  this  hot  broth,  old  man," 
said  Enoch.  "Come!  just  to  please  me!"  as  Milton 
shook  his  head.  "  You've  got  to  keep  your  strength  and 
a  clear  head  in  order  to  direct  the  voyage." 

Milton  sipped  at  the  wrarm  decoction,  and  in  a  moment 
his  eyes  brightened. 

"  Tastes  pretty  good.  Too  bad  we  haven't  several  gal 
lons  of  it.  Tell  the  bunch  to  draw  lots  for  who  goes 
out." 

Enoch  shook  his  head.  "  That's  all  settled !  "  and  he 
gave  Milton  the  details  of  the  trouble  of  the  night  be 
fore. 

"  Well,  can  you  beat  that  ?  "  demanded  Milton.  "  The 
two  fools!  Why,  there  were  a  hundred  things  I  had  to 
tell  the  pair  who  went  out.  Judge,  they'll  never  make 
it!" 

"  They've  got  as  good  a  fighting  chance  as  we  have," 
insisted  Enoch,  stoutly.  "  Quit  worrying  about  them, 


THE  END  OF  THE  CRUISE  235 

Milton.  You've  got  your  hands  full  keeping  the  rest 
of  us  from  being  too  foolish." 

But  try  as  he  would,  Milton  could  do  little  in  the  way 
of  directing  his  depleted  crew.  His  leg  and  his  back 
pained  him  excruciatingly,  and  the  vertigo  was  with  him 
constantly.  Enoch  after  trying  several  times  to  get  co 
herent  commands  from  the  sufferer  finally  gave  up.  As 
soon  as  the  scanty  breakfast  of  coffee  and  a  tiny  portion 
of  boiled  beans  was  over,  Enoch  divided  the  rations  into 
four  portions  and  stowed  away  all  but  that  day's  share, 
in  the  Ida.  Then  he  discussed  with  Agnew  and  Jonas 
the  best  method  of  placing  Milton  on  the  boat. 

They  finally  built  a  rough  but  strong  framework  on 
the  forward  compartment  against  which  Milton  could 
recline  while  seated  on  the  deck,  the  broken  leg  supported 
within  the  rower's  space.  They  padded  this  crude  couch 
with  blankets.  This  finished,  they  made  a  stretcher  of 
the  blanket  on  which  Milton  lay,  by  nailing  the  sides  to 
two  small  cedar  trunks  which  they  routed  out  of  the  drift 
wood.  When  they  had  lifted  him  carefully  and  had 
placed  him  in  the  Ida,  stretcher  and  all,  he  was  far  more 
comfortable,  he  said,  than  he  had  been  on  his  rigid  bed 
of  stone. 

By  eight  o'clock,  all  was  ready  and  they  pushed  slowly 
out  into  the  stream.  Agnew  took  the  steering  oar, 
Enoch,  his  usual  place,  with  Jonas  behind  him. 

The  river  was  \vild  and  swift  here,  but,  after  they  had 
worked  carefully  and  painfully  out  of  the  aftermath  of 
the  falls,  the  current  was  unobstructed  for  several  hours. 
All  the  morning,  Jonas  watched  eagerly  for  traces  of  the 
Na-che  but  up  to  noon,  none  appeared.  The  sky  was 
cloudy,  threatening  rain.  The  walls,  now  smooth,  now 
broken  by  pinnacles  and  shoulders,  were  sad  and  gray 
in  color.  Milton  sometimes  slept  uneasily,  but  for  the 
most  part  he  lay  with  lips  compressed,  eyes  on  the  gliding 
cliffs. 

About  an  hour  before  noon,  the  familiar  warning  roar 
of  rapids  reached  their  ears.  Rounding  a  curve,  care 
fully,  they  snubbed  the  Ida  to  a  rock  while  Agnew  clam- 


236         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

bered  ashore  for  an  observation.  Just  below  them  a 
black  wall  appeared  to  cut  at  right  angles  across  the  river 
bed.  The  river  sweeping  round  the  curve  which  the  Ida 
had  just  compassed,  rushed  like  the  waters  of  a  mill 
race  against  the  unexpected  obstacle  and  waves  ten  to 
twenty  feet  high  told  of  the  force  of  the  meeting.  Ag- 
new  with  great  difficulty  crawled  along  the  shore  until 
he  could  look  down  on  this  turmoil  of  waters.  Then, 
with  infinite  pains,  he  returned. 

"  It's  impossible  to  portage,"  he  reported,  "  but  the 
waves  simply  fill  the  gorge  for  two  hundred  feet." 

"  Tie  me  in  the  boat,"  said  Milton.  "  The  rest  of 
you  get  out  on  the  rocks  and  let  the  boat  down  with 
ropes." 

Agnew  looked  questioningly  at  Enoch,  who  shook  his 
head. 

"  Agnew,"  he  said,  "  can  you  and  Jonas  manage  to  let 
the  Ida  down,  with  both  Milton  and  me  aboard?  " 

"  No,  sir,  we  can't !  "  exclaimed  Jonas.  "  That  ain't 
to  be  thought  of!" 

"  Right  you  are,  Jonas !  "  agreed  Agnew,  while  Milton 
nodded  in  agreement. 

"  Then,"  said  Enoch,  "  let's  land  Milton  and  the  loose 
dunnage  on  this  rock,  let  the  boat  down,  come  back  and 
carry  Milton  round." 

"  It's  the  only  way,"  agreed  Agnew,  "  but  I  think  we 
can  take  a  hundred  feet  off  the  portage,  if  you  fellows 
are  willing  to  risk  rowing  down  to  a  bench  of  rock  be 
low  here.  You  take  the  steering  oar,  Judge.  I'll  stay 
ashore  and  catch  a  rope  from  you  at  the  bench." 

Cautiously,  Jonas  backing  \vater  and  Enoch  keeping 
the  Ida  almost  scraping  the  shore,  they  made  their  way 
to  the  spot  where  Agnew  caught  the  rope,  throwing  the 
whole  weight  of  his  body  back  against  the  pull  of  the 
boat,  even  then  being  almost  dragged  from  the  ledge. 
Milton  was  lifted  out  as  carefully  as  possible,  the  loose 
dunnage  was  piled  beside  him,  then  the  three  men,  each- 
with  a  rope  attached  to  the  Ida,  began  their  difficult 
climb. 


THE  END  OF  THE  CRUISE          237 

There  was  nothing  that  could  be  called  a  trail.  They 
made  their  way  by  clinging  to  projecting  rocks,  or  step 
ping  perilously  from  crack  to  crevice,  from  shelf  to  hol 
low.  The  pull  of  the  helpless  Ida  was  tremendous,  and 
they  snubbed  her  wherever  projecting  rocks  made  this 
possible.  She  danced  dizzily  from  crest  to  crest  of 
waves.  She  slid  helplessly  into  whirlpools,  she  twisted 
over  and  under  and  fought  like  a  wild  thing  against  the 
straining  ropes.  But  at  the  end  of  a  half  hour,  she  was 
moored  in  safe  water,  on  a  spit  of  sand  on  which  a  cotton 
wood  grew. 

"  Agnew,"  said  Enoch,  "  I  think  we  were  fools  not 
to  have  broken  a  rough  trail  before  we  attempted  this. 
It's  obviously  impossible  to  carry  Milton  over  that  wall 
as  it  is." 

"  I  thought  the  three  of  us  might  make  it,  taking  turns 
carrying  Milt  on  our  backs.  It  wastes  a  lot  of  time  mak 
ing  trail  and  time  is  a  worse  enemy  to  us  now  than  the 
Colorado." 

"  That's  true,"  agreed  Enoch,  "  but  I'm  not  willing  to 
risk  Milton's  vertigo  on  our  backs." 

He  took  a  pick-ax  out  of  the  rear  compartment  of  the 
boat,  as  he  spoke  and  began  to  break  trail.  The  others 
followed  suit.  The  rock  proved  unexpectedly  easy  to 
work  and  in  another  hour,  Enoch  announced  himself 
willing  to  risk  Milton  and  the  stretcher  on  the  rude  path 
they  had  hacked  out. 

Milton  did  not  speak  during  his  passage.  His  forti 
tude  and  endurance  were  very  touching  to  Enoch  whose 
admiration  for  the  young  leader  increased  from  hour  to 
hour.  Jonas  boiled  the  coffee  and  heated  the  noon  por 
tions  of  beans  and  goat.  It  was  entirely  inadequate  for 
the  appetites  of  the  hard  working  crew.  Enoch  won 
dered  if  the  others  felt  as  hollow  and  uncertain-kneed,  as 
he  did,  but  he  said  nothing  nor  did  they. 

There  was  considerable  drift  wood  lodged  against  the 
spit  of  sand  and  from  it,  Jonas,  with  a  shout  that  was 
half  a  sob,  dragged  a  broken  board  on  which  appeared  in 
red  letters,  "-a-che." 


238         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  All  that's  left  of  the  prettiest,  spunkiest  little  boat 
that  ever  fought  a  dirty  river!  "  he  mourned.  "  I'm  go 
ing  to  put  this  in  my  dunnage  bag  and  if  we  ever  do  get 
home,  I'll  have  it  framed." 

The  others  smiled  in  sympathy.  "  I  wonder  if  Hard 
has  found  Forr,  yet?"  said  Milton,  uneasily.  "I  can't 
keep  them  off  my  mind." 

"  I  wouldn't  be  surprised  if  they  both  had  run  on 
Curly  and  Mack's  outfit  by  this  time,"  Agnew  answered 
cheerfully.  "  It's  funny  we  didn't  think  of  them  instead 
of  Diana  Allen,  last  night." 

"  Not  so  very  funny,  either,"  returned  Milton  with 
an  attempt  at  a  smile.  "  I'll  bet  most  of  us  have  thought 
of  Miss  Allen  forty  times  to  once  of  the  men,  ever  since 
we  met  her." 

"  She's  the  most  beautiful  woman  I  ever  saw,"  said 
Agnew,  dreamily. 

"Lawdy!"  groaned  Jonas,  suddenly,  "if  I  only  had 
something  to  fish  with!  When  we  make  camp  to-night, 
I'm  a-going  to  try  to  rig  up  some  kind  of  a  line." 

"  I'm  glad  the  tobacco  supply  was  in  the  Ida."  Enoch 
rose  with  a  yawn  and  knocked  the  ashes  from  his  pipe. 
"  Well,  boys,  shall  we  move?  " 

Again  they  embarked.  The  river  behaved  in  a  most 
friendly  manner  until  afternoon,  when  she  offered  by  way 
of  variety  a  series  of  sand  bars,  across  which  they  were 
obliged  to  drag  the  Ida  by  main  strength.  These  con 
tinued  at  intervals  for  several  miles.  In  the  midst  of 
them,  the  rain  that  had  been  threatening  all  day  began 
to  fall  while  the  wind  that  never  left  the  Canyon,  rose 
to  drive  the  icy  waters  more  vehemently  through  their 
sodden  clothing.  Milton,  snugly  covered  with  blankets, 
begged  them  feverishly  to  go  into  camp.  "  I'll  have  you 
all  sick,  to-night!"  he  insisted.  "You  can't  take  the 
risk  of  pneumonia  on  starvation  rations  that  you  did 
on  plenty  of  grub." 

"  I'm  willing,"  said  Agnew,  finally,  as  he  staggered  to 
his  feet  after  a  ducking  under  the  Ida's  side. 


THE  END  OF  THE  CRUISE          239 

"  Oh,  let's  keep  going,  as  long  as  there's  any  light  to 
see  by,"  begged  Enoch. 

As  if  to  reward  his  persistence,  just  as  dusk  settled 
fully  upon  them,  a  little  canyon  opened  from  the  main 
wall  at  the  right,  a  small  stream,  tumbling  eagerly  from 
it  into  the  Colorado.  They  turned  the  Ida  quickly  into 
this  and  managed  to  push  upward  on  it  for  several  min 
utes.  Then  they  put  ashore  under  some  dim  cotton- 
woods,  where  grass  was  ankle  deep.  The  mere  feeling 
of  vegetation  about  them  was  cheering,  and  the  trees, 
with  a  blanket  stretched  between  made  a  partial  shelter 
from  the  rain. 

"  I'll  sure  cook  grass  for  you  all  for  breakfast!  "  said 
Jonas.  "  How  come  folks  not  to  bile  grass  for  greens, 
I  don't  see.  Maybe  birds  here,  too.  Whoever's  the 
fancy  shot,  put  the  gun  close  to  his  hand." 

"  I've  done  some  fair  shooting  in  my  day,"  said  Ag- 
new,  "  but  I  never  potted  a  goat  in  an  eagle's  nest.  You'd 
better  give  the  gun  to  the  Judge."  He  polished  off  his 
pie  tin,  scraped  the  last  grain  of  sugar  from  his  tin  cup 
and  lighted  a  cigarette. 

"  I'm  trying  to  bear  my  blushing  honors  modestly," 
grinned  Enoch,  crowding  closer  to  the  great  fire.  "  Mil 
ton,  I've  a  bone  to  pick  with  you." 

"  Where'd  you  get  it  ?  "  demanded  Agnew. 

Enoch  smiled  but  went  on.  "  I  accuse  you  of  de 
liberately  starving  yourself  for  the  rest  of  us.  It  won't 
do,  sir.  I'm  going  to  set  your  share  aside  and  by  Jove, 
if  you  refuse  it,  I'll  throw  it  in  the  river!  " 

Milton  rose  indignantly  on  one  elbow.  "  Judge,  I 
forbid  you  to  do  anything  of  the  kind!  You  fellows 
have  got  to  have  food  to  work  on.  All  I  need  is  plenty 
of  water." 

"  Especially  as  you  think  the  water  is  making  you 
sick,"  returned  Enoch  drily.  "  You  can't  get  away  with 
it,  Milton.  Am  I  not  right,  Agnew  and  Jonas?  " 

"  Absolutely !  "  Agnew  exclaimed,  while  Jonas  nod 
ded,  vigorously. 


240          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  So,  beginning  to-morrow  morning,  you're  to  do  your 
share  of  eating,"  Enoch  concluded,  cheerfully. 

But  in  spite  of  all  efforts  to  keep  a  stiff  upper  lip,  the 
night  was  wretched.  The  rain  fell  in  torrents.  The 
only  way  to  keep  the  fire  alight  was  by  keeping  it  under 
the  blanket  shelter,  and  Milton  was  half  smothered  with 
smoke.  He  insisted  on  the  others  going  to  sleep,  but  in 
spite  of  their  utter  weariness,  the  men  would  not  do 
this.  Hunger  made  them  restless  and  the  rain  crept 
through  their  blankets.  Enoch  finally  gave  up  the  at 
tempt  to  sleep.  He  crouched  by  Milton,  feeding  the  fire 
and  trying  as  best  he  could  to  ease  the  patient's  misery 
of  mind  and  body. 

It  was  long  after  midnight  when  Milton  said,  "  Judge, 
I've  been  thinking  it  over  and  I've  come  to  a  conclusion. 
I  want  you  folks  to  go  on  for  help  and  leave  me  here." 

"  I  don't  like  to  hear  you  talk  suicide,  Milton."  Enoch 
shook  his  head.  "  As  far  as  I'm  concerned,  I  wouldn't 
consider  such  a  suggestion  for  a  minute." 

"  But  don't  you  see,"  insisted  Milton,  "  I'm  imperilling 
all  your  lives.  Without  me,  you  could  have  made  twice 
the  distance  you  did  to-day." 

"  That's  probably  true,"  agreed  Enoch.  "  What  of 
it  ?  Would  you  leave  me  in  your  fix,  thinking  you  might 
bring  help  back?  " 

"That's  different!  You're  a  tenderfoot  and  I'm  not. 
Moreover,  greater  care  on  my  part  would  probably  have 
prevented  this  whole  series  of  accidents." 

"  Now  you  are  talking  nonsense !  "  Enoch  threw  an 
other  log  on  the  fire.  "  Your  illness  is  undermining  your 
common  sense,  Milton.  We've  got  a  tough  few  days 
ahead  of  us  but  we'll  tackle  it  together.  If  we  fail  we 
fail  together.  But  I  can  see  no  reason  why  if  we  run 
as  few  risks  as  we  did  to-day,  we  should  get  into  serious 
trouble.  We're  going  to  lose  strength  for  lack  of  food, 
so  we've  got  to  move  more  and  more  slowly  and  care 
fully,  and  we'll  be  feeling  weak  and  done  up  when  we 
reach  the  Ferry.  But  I  anticipate  nothing  worse  than 
that." 


THE  END  OF  THE  CRUISE  241 

Milton  sighed  and  was  silent,  for  a  time.  Then  he 
said,  "  1  could  have  managed  Forr  and  Harden  better,  if 
I'd  been  willing  to  believe  they  were  the  pair  of  kids 
they  proved  to  be.  As  it  is  — " 

"  As  it  is,"  interrupted  Enoch,  firmly,  "  both  chaps  are 
learning  a  lesson  that  will  probably  cure  them  for  all 
time  of  their  foolishness." 

Milton  looked  long  at  Enoch's  tired  face;  then  he  lifted 
himself  on  one  elbow. 

"  All  right,  Judge,  I'm  through  belly-aching !  We'll 
put  it  through  somehow  and  if  I  have  decent  luck,  early 
spring  will  see  me  right  here,  beginning  where  I  left  off. 
After  all,  Powell  had  to  take  two  trials  at  it." 

"  That's  more  like  you,  Milton !  Is  that  dawn  break 
ing  yonder?  " 

"  Yes,"  replied  Milton.  "  Keep  your  ear  and  eye  out 
for  any  sort  of  critters  in  this  little  spot,  Judge." 

But,  though  Enoch,  and  the  others,  when  he  had 
roused  them,  beat  the  tiny  blind  alley  thoroughly,  not  so 
much  as  a  cottontail  reward  their  efforts. 

"  Curious !  "  grumbled  Enoch,  "  up  at  Mack's  camp 
where  we  really  needed  nothing,  I  found  all  the  game  in 
the  world.  The  perversity  of  nature  is  incomprehensible. 
Even  the  fish  have  left  this  part  of  the  river,"  as  Jonas 
with  a  sigh  of  discouragement  tossed  his  improvised  fish 
ing  tackle  into  the  fire. 

Agnew  pulled  his  belt  a  notch  tighter.  His  brown  face 
was  beginning  to  look  sagged  and  lined.  "  Well,"  cheer 
fully,  "  there  are  some  advantages  in  being  fat.  I've 
stil-1  several  days  to  go  before  I  reach  your's  and  Jonas' 
state  of  slats,  Judge." 

"  Don't  get  sot  up  about  it,  Ag,"  returned  Enoch. 
"  You  look  a  good  deal  like  a  collapsed  balloon,  you 
know!  Shall  we  launch  the  good  ship  Ida,  fellows?" 

"  She  ain't  anything  to  what  the  Na-che  was,"  sighed 
Jonas,  "  but  she's  pretty  good  at  that.  If  I  ain't  too 
tired,  to-night,  I  may  clean  her  up  a  little." 

Even  Milton  joined  in  the  laughter  at  this  and  the 
day's  journey  was  begun  with  great  good  humor. 


242          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

It  was  the  easiest  day's  course  that  had  been  experienced 
since  Enoch  had  joined  the  expedition.  There  were  three 
rapids  during  the  day  but  they  rode  these  with  no  diffi 
culties.  Enoch  and  Jonas  rowed  fairly  steadily  in  the 
morning,  but  in  the  afternoon,  they  spelled  each  other. 
The  light  rations  were  making  themselves  felt.  The  go 
ing  was  so  smooth  that  dusk  was  upon  them  before  they 
made  camp.  Milton  had  been  wretchedly  sick,  all  day, 
but  he  made  no  complaint  and  forced  down  the  handful 
of  boiled  beans  and  the  tin  cup  of  pale  coffee  that  was 
his  share  of  each  meal. 

They  made  camp  languidly.  Enoch  found  the  task 
of  piling  fire  wood  arduous  and  as  the  camp  was  in  dry 
sand  and  the  blankets  had  dried  out  during  the  day,  they 
did  not  attempt  the  usual  great  blaze.  Jonas  insisted  on 
acting  as  night  nurse  for  Milton,  and  Enoch  was  asleep 
before  he  had  more  then  swallowed  his  supper.  He  had 
bad  dreams  and  woke  with  a  dull  headache,  and  won 
dered  if  Jonas  and  Agnew  felt  as  weak  and  light-headed 
as  he  did.  But  although  both  the  men  moved  about 
slowly  and  Jonas  made  no  attempt  to  clean  up  the  Ida, 
they  uttered  no  complaints.  Milton  was  feeling  a  little 
better.  Before  the  day's  journey  was  begun,  he  and  Ag 
new  plotted  their  position  on  the  map. 

"Well,  does  to-morrow  see  us  at  the  Ferry?"  asked 
Enoch,  cheerfully,  when  Agnew  put  up  his  pencil  with 
an  abstracted  air. 

"  No,  Judge,"  sighed  Milton,  "  that  rotten  first  day 
after  the  wreck,  cost  us  a  good  many  miles.  I  thought 
we'd  make  up  for  it,  yesterday.  But  we're  a  full  day 
behind." 

"  That  is,"  exclaimed  Enoch,  "  we  must  take  that  grub 
pile  and  redivide  it,  stretching  it  over  three  days  instead 
of  two!" 

"  Yes,"  replied  Milton,  grimly. 

"  Jove,  Agnew,  you're  going  to  be  positively  fairy  like, 
before  we're  through  with  this,"  said  Enoch.  "  Jonas, 
get  out  the  grub  supply,  will  you  ?  " 

Jonas,  standing  on  a  rock  that  projected  over  the  water, 


THE  END  OF  THE  CRUISE          243 

did  not  respond.  He  was  watching  eagerly  as  his  new 
fishline  of  ravelled  rope  pulled  taut  in  the  stream.  Sud 
denly  he  gave  a  roar  and  jerked  the  line  so  violently  that 
the  fish  landed  on  Milton's  blanket. 

"  Must  weigh  two  pounds!  "  cried  Agnew. 
'  You  start  her  broiling,  Mr.  Agnew!  "  shouted  Jonas, 
"  while  I  keep  on  a-fishing." 

"What   changed   your   luck,   Jonas?"    asked   Enoch. 
'  You're  using  beans  and  bent  wire,  just  as  you  did  yes 
terday." 

"  Aha!  not  just  as  I  did  yesterday,  boss!  This  time 
I  tied  Xa-che's  charm  just  above  the  hook.  No  fish 
could  stand  that,  once  they  got  an  eye  on  it." 

But  evidently  no  second  fish  cast  an  eye  on  the  irre 
sistible  charm,  and  Enoch  was  unwilling  to  wait  for  fur 
ther  luck  longer  than  was  necessary  to  cook  the  fish  and 
eat  it.  But  during  the  day  Jonas  trolled  whenever  the 
water  made  trolling  possible,  hopefully  spitting  on  the 
hook  each  time  he  cast  it  over,  casting  always  from  the 
right  hand  and  muttering  Fish!  Fish!  Fish!  three  times 
for  each  venture.  Yet  no  other  fish  responded  to  Xa- 
che's  charm  that  day. 

But  the  river  treated  them  kindly.  If  their  strength 
had  been  equal  to  hard  and  steady  rowing  they  might 
have  made  up  for  the  lost  miles.  As  it  was  they  knocked 
off  at  night  with  just  the  number  of  miles  for  the  day 
that  Milton  had  planned  on  in  the  beginning,  and  were 
still  a  day  behind  their  schedule.  Milton  grew  no  worse, 
though  he  was  weaker  and  obviously  a  very  sick  man. 
A  light  snow  fell  during  the  night  but  the  next  morning 
was  clear  and  invigorating. 

They  encountered  two  difficult  rapids  on  the  fourth 
day.  The  first  one  they  portaged.  The  trail  was  not 
difficult  but  in  their  weakened  condition  the  boat  and  poor 
Milton  were  heavy  burdens  and  it  took  them  three  times 
as  long  to  accomplish  the  portage  as  it  would  have  taken 
had  they  been  in  normal  condition.  The  second  rapids, 
they  shot  easily  in  the  afternoon.  The  waves  were  high 
and  every  one  was  saturated  with  the  icy  water.  Enoch 


244         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

dared  not  risk  Milton's  remaining  wet  and  as  soon  as  they 
found  a  likely  place  for  the  camp  they  went  ashore.  The 
huge  pile  of  drift  wood  had  helped  them  to  decide  on  this 
rather  unhospitable  ledge  for  what  they  hoped  would  be 
their  last  night  out. 

They  kindled  a  big  fire  and  sat  about  it,  steaming  and 
silent,  but  with  the  feeling  that  the  worst  was  behind 
them. 

They  rose  in  a  cold  driving  rain  the  next  morning,  ate 
the  last  of  the  beans,  drank  the  last  of  the  coffee,  covered 
Milton  as  well  as  could  be  with  blankets  and  launched 
the  boat.  It  was  a  day  of  unspeakable  misery.  They 
made  one  portage,  and  one  let  down,  and  dragged  the 
boat  with  almost  impossible  labor  over  a  long  series  of 
shallows.  By  mid-afternoon  they  had  made  up  their 
minds  to  another  night  of  wretchedness  and  Agnew  was 
beginning  to  watch  for  a  camping  place,  when  suddenly 
he  exclaimed, 

"  Fellows,  there's  the  Ferry !  " 

"  How  do  you  know?  "  demanded  Enoch. 

"  I've  been  here  before,  Judge.  Yes,  by  Jove,  there's 
old  Grant's  cabin.  I  wonder  if  any  one's  reached  here 
yet!" 

"  Well,  Milton,  old  man,  here's  thanks  and  congratu 
lations,"  cried  Enoch. 

"  You'd  better  thank  the  Almighty,"  returned  Milton. 
"  I  certainly  had  very  little  to  do  with  our  getting  here." 

The  rain  had  prevented  Agnew's  recognizing  their 
haven  until  they  were  fairly  upon  it.  Even  now  all  that 
Enoch  could  see  was  a  wide  lateral  canyon  with  a  rough 
unpainted  shack  above  the  waterline.  A  group  of  cot- 
tonwoods  loomed  dimly  through  the  mist  beside  a  fence 
that  surrounded  the  house. 

Jonas,  who  had  seemed  overcome  with  joy  at  Agnew's 
announcement,  recovered  his  power  of  speech  by  the 
time  the  boat  was  headed  shoreward  and  he  raised  a 
shout  that  echoed  from  wall  to  wall. 

"  Na-che !     Ohee,  Na-che !     Here  we  are,  Na-che !  " 

Agnew  opened  his  lips  to  comment,  but  before  he  ut- 


THE  END  OF  THE  CRUISE          245 

tered  the  first  syllable  there  rose  a  shrill,  clear  call  from 
the  mists. 

"  Jonas !     Ohee,  Jonas !  " 

Enoch's  pulse  leaped.  With  sudden  strength,  he  bent 
to  his  oars,  and  the  Ida  slid  softly  upon  the  sandy  shore. 
As  she  did  so,  two  figures  came  running  through  the  rain. 

"  Diana!  "  cried  Enoch,  making  no  attempt  for  a  mo 
ment  to  step  from  the  boat. 

"  Oh,  what  has  happened !  "  exclaimed  Diana,  putting 
a  hand  under  Milton's  head  as  he  struggled  to  raise  it. 

"  Just  a  broken  leg,  Miss  Allen,"  he  said,  his  parched 
lips  parting  in  a  smile.  "  Have  Forr  and  Hard  turned 
up?" 

"No!  And  Curly  and  Mack  aren't  here,  either!  O 
you  poor  things !  Here,  let  me  help !  Na-che,  take  hold 
of  this  stretcher,  there,  on  the  other  side  with  the  Judge 
and  Jonas.  Finished  short  of  grub,  didn't  you!  Let's 
bring  Mr.  Milton  right  up  to  the  cabin." 

The  cabin  consisted  of  but  one  room  with  an  adobe 
fireplace  at  one  end  and  bunks  on  two  sides.  There  was 
a  warm  glow  of  fire  and  the  smell  of  meat  cooking. 
They  laid  Milton  tenderly  on  a  bunk  and  as  they  did  so 
Jonas  gave  a  great  sob : 

"  Welcome  home,  I  say,  boss,  welcome  home !  " 


CHAPTER  XIII 
GRANT'S  CROSSING 

"  Perfect  memories !     They  are  more  precious  than 
hope,  more  priceless  than  dreams  of  the  future." 

—  Enoch's  Diary. 

NOW,   every   one   of   you   get   into   dry   clothes   as 
quickly  as  you  can,"   said  Diana.     "No!     Don't 
one  of  you  try  to  stir  from  the  cabin!     Come,  Na-che, 
we'll  bring  the  men's  bags  up  and  go  out  to  our  tent 
while  they  shift." 

The  two  women  were  gone  before  the  men  could  pro 
test.  They  were  back  with  the  bags  in  a  few  moments 
and  in  almost  less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell,  the  crew  of 
the  Ida  was  reclothed,  Enoch  in  the  riding  suit  that  Jonas 
had  left  with  some  of  his  own  clothes  in  Na-che's  care. 
When  this  was  done,  Na-che  put  on  the  coffee  pot,  while 
Diana  served  each  of  them  with  a  plate  of  hot  rabbit 
stew. 

"  Don't  try  to  talk,"  she  said,  "  until  you  get  this  down. 
You'd  better  help  Mr.  Milton,  Na-che.  Here,  it  will  take 
two  of  us.  Oh,  you  poor  dear!  You're  burning  with 
fever." 

"  Don't  you  worry  about  me,"  protested  Milton, 
weakly,  as,  with  his  head  resting  on  Diana's  arm,  he 
sipped  the  teaspoonsful  of  stew  Na-che  fed  him.  "  This 
is  as  near  heaven  as  I  want  to  get." 

"  I  should  hope  so!  "  grunted  Agnew.  "  Jonas,  don't 
ever  try  to  put  up  a  stew  in  competition  with  Na-che 
again." 

"  Not  me,  sir !  "  chuckled  Jonas.  "  That  gal  can  sure 
cook!" 

"  And  make  charms,"  added  Enoch.  "  Don't  fail  to 
realize  that  you're  still  alive,  Jonas." 

"  I'm  going  to  bathe  Mr.  Milton's  face  for  him,"  said 

246 


GRANT'S  CROSSING  247 

Na-che,  with  a  fine  air  of  indifference.  "  I  can  set  a 
broken  leg,  too." 

"  It's  set,"  said  Agnew  and  Enoch  together,  "  but," 
added  Enoch,  "  that  isn't  saying  that  Milton  mustn't  be 
gotten  to  a  doctor  with  all  speed." 

Diana  nodded.  "  Where  are  Mr.  Forrester  and  Mr. 
Harden?  "  she  asked. 

"  We  lost  the  Na-che  — "  said  Agnew. 

"The  what?"  demanded  Diana. 

"  Jonas  rechristened  the  Mary,  the  Na-che,"  Agnew 
replied.  "  We  lost  her  in  a  whirlpool  six  days  back. 
Most  of  the  food  was  in  her.  Two  of  us  had  to  go  out 
and  Harden  and  Forrester  volunteered.  We  are  very 
much  worried  about  them." 

"And  when  did  Mr.  Milton  break  his  leg?" 

"  On  that  same  black  day !  The  water's  been  dis 
agreeing  with  him,  making  him  dizzy,  and  he  took  a 
header  from  the  Ida,  after  rescuing  Forrester  from  some 
rapids,"  said  Enoch. 

"  Doesn't  sound  much,  when  you  tell  it,  does  it ! "  Ag 
new  smiled  as  he  sighed.  "  But  it  really  has  been  quite 
a  busy  five  days." 

"  One  can  look  at  your  faces  and  read  much  between 
the  lines,"  said  Diana,  quietly.  "  Now,  while  Na-che 
works  with  Mr.  Milton,  I'm  going  to  give  you  each  some 
coffee." 

"Diana,  how  far  are  we  from  the  nearest  doctor?" 
asked  Enoch. 

"  There's  one  over  on  the  Navajo  reservation,"  replied 
Diana. 

"  Wouldn't  it  be  better  to  keep  Milton  right  here  and 
one  of  us  go  for  the  doctor?  " 

"  Much  better,"  agreed  Diana  and  Agnew. 

"Lord,"  sighed  Milton,  "what  bliss!" 

"  Then,"  said  Enoch,  "  I'm  going  to  start  for  the  doc 
tor,  now." 

"Nonsense!"  exclaimed  Diana,  "that's  my  job. 
We've  been  here  two  days  and  we  and  our  outfit  are  as 
fresh  as  daisies." 


248         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  I'm  going,  myself,"  Agnew  rose  as  firmly  as  his 
weak  and  weary  legs  would  permit. 

It  was  Na-che  who  settled  the  matter.  "  That's  an 
Indian's  job,"  she  said.  "  You  take  care  of  Mr.  Mil 
ton,  Diana,  while  I  go." 

"  That's  sensible,"  agreed  Diana.  "  Start  now,  Na- 
che.  You  should  reach  Wilson's  by  to-morrow  night  and 
telephone  to  the  Agent's  house.  That'll  save  you  forty 
miles." 

Jonas'  face  which  had  fallen  greatly  suddenly  bright 
ened.  "Somebody's  coming!"  he  cried.  "I  hope  it's 
our  folks!" 

The  door  opened  abruptly  and  in  walked  Curly  and 
Mack. 

"Here's  the  whole  family!"  exclaimed  Curly. 
"  Well,  if  you  folks  don't  look  like  Siberian  convicts, 
whiskers  and  all!  Some  trip,  eh?  " 

Mack,  shaking  hands  all  round,  stopped  beside  Mil 
ton's  bunk.  "What  went  wrong,  bud?  and  where's  the 
rest  of  the  bunch?  " 

Enoch  told  the  story,  this  time.  Mack  shook  his  head 
as  the  final  plans  were  outlined. 

"  Na-che  had  better  stay  and  nurse  Milton.  I'm  feel 
ing  fine.  We  just  loafed  along  down  here.  I'll  start 
out  right  away.  I  should  reach  Wilson's  to-morrow 
night,  as  you  say,  and  telephone  the  doctor.  Then  I'll 
load  up  with  grub  at  Wilson's  and  turn  back.  Do  you 
find  much  game  round  here?" 

Diana  nodded.  "  Plenty  of  rabbit  and  quail,  and  we 
have  some  bacon  and  coffee." 

"  I  guess  I'd  better  go  out  and  look  for  the  two  foot- 
passengers,"  suggested  Curly.  "  I'll  stay  out  to-night 
and  report  to-morrow  evening." 

"  We'll  be  in  shape  by  morning  to  start  on  the  search," 
said  Enoch. 

Curly  turned  to  his  former  cook  with  a  grin.  "  Well, 
Judge,  is  your  little  vacation  giving  you  the  rest  you 
wanted?  " 

Enoch,  gaunt,  unshaven,  exhausted,  his  blue  eyes  blood- 


GRANT'S  CROSSING 

shot,  nodded  contentedly.  "  I'm  having  th<«  tfme  of  my 
life,  Curly." 

"  I  had  a  bull  dog  once,"  said  Curly.  "  If  I'd  take  a 
barrel  stave  and  pound  him  with  it,  saying  all  the  time, 
'  Nice  doggie,  isn't  this  fun !  Isn't  this  a  nice  little  stick ! 
Don't  you  like  these  little  love  pats?  '  he'd  wag  his  tail 
and  slobber  and  tell  me  how  much  he  enjoyed  it  and 
beg  for  more.  But,  if  I  took  a  straw  and  tapped  him 
with  it,  telling  him  he  was  a  poor  dog,  that  nobody  loved 
him,  that  I  was  breaking  his  ribs  which  he  richly  de 
served,  why  that  bull  pup  nearly  died  of  suffering  of 
body  and  anguish  of  mind." 

Enoch  shook  his  head  sadly.  "  A  great  evangelist  was 
lost  when  you  took  to  placer  mining,  Curly." 

Mack  had  been  talking  quietly  to  Milton.  "  I  don't 
believe  it  was  the  river  water,  that  upset  you.  I  think 
you  have  drunk  from  some  poison  spring.  I  did  that 
once,  up  in  this  country,  and  it  took  me  six  months  to 
get  over  it,  because  I  couldn't  get  to  a  doctor.  But  I 
believe  a  doctor  could  fix  you  right  up.  Do  you  recall 
drinking  water  the  other  men  didn't?  " 

"  Any  number  of  times,  on  exploring  trips  to  the 
river!  "  Milton  looked  immensely  cheered.  "  I  think  you 
may  be  right,  Mack." 

"I'll  bet  you  two  bits  that's  all  that  ails  you,  son!" 
Mack  rose  from  the  edge  of  the  bunk.  "  Well,  folks, 
I'm  off !  Look  for  me  when  you  see  me !  " 

"  I'll  mooch  along  too,"  Curly  rose  and  stretched  him 
self. 

"  I'm  not  going  to  try  to  thank  all  you  folks!  "  Mil 
ton's  weak  voice  was  husky. 

"  That's  what  us  Arizonians  always  wait  for  before 
we  do  the  decent  thing,"'  said  Mack,  with  a  smile. 
"  Come  along,  Curly,  you  lazy  chuckawalla  you !  "  And 
the  door  slammed  behind  them. 

"They're  stem  winders,  both  of  them!"  exclaimed 
Agnew. 

"  Diana,"  said  Enoch.  "  I  wish  you'd  sit  down. 
You've  done  enough  for  us." 


250         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

Diana  smiled  and  shook  her  head.  "  I  struck  the  camp 
first,  so  I'm  boss.  Na-che  and  I  are  going  out  to  see 
that  everything's  all  right  for  the  night  and  that  Mack 
and  Curly  get  a  good  start.  While  we're  out,  you're  all 
going  to  bed.  Then  Na-che  is  coming  in  to  make  Mr. 
Milton  as  comfortable  as  she  can.  Our  tent  is  under  the 
cottonwoods  and  if  you  want  anything  during  the  night, 
Mr.  Milton,  all  you  have  to  do  is  to  call  through  the 
window.  Neither  of  us  will  undress  so  we  can  be  on 
duty,  instantly.  There  is  plenty  of  stew  still  simmering 
in  the  pot,  and  cold  biscuit  on  the  table.  Good  night,  all 
of  you." 

"  Na-che,  she  don't  need  to  bother.  I'll  look  out  for 
Mr.  Milton,"  said  Jonas,  suddenly  rousing  from  his  chair 
where  he  had  been  dozing. 

"  You  go  to  bed  and  to  sleep,  Jonas,"  ordered  Diana. 
"  Good  night,  Judge." 

"  Good  night,  Diana !  " 

The  door  closed  softly  and  Diana  was  seen  no  more 
that  night.  The  rain  ceased  at  midnight  and  the  stars 
shone  forth  clear  and  cold,  but  Milton  was  the  only  per 
son  in  the  camp  to  be  conscious  of  the  fact.  Just  as  the 
dawn  wind  was  rising,  though,  and  the  cottonwoods  were 
outlining  themselves  against  the  eastern  sky,  stumbling 
footsteps  near  the  tent  wakened  both  Diana  and  Na-che, 
and  they  opened  the  tent  flap,  hastily. 

Forrester  was  clinging  to  a  cotton  wood  tree.  At  least 
it  was  a  worn,  bleached,  ragged  counterfeit  of  Forrester. 

"  Hard's  back  on  the  trail  apiece.  I  came  on  for 
help,"  he  said  huskily. 

"  Is  he  sick  or  hurt?  "  cried  Diana. 

"  No,  just  all  in." 

"  I'll  take  a  horse  for  him,  right  off,"  said  Na-che. 
"  You  help  Mr.  Forrester  into  the  house,  Diana." 

"Call  Jonas!"  said  Diana,  supporting  Forrester 
against  the  tree.  One  of  the  men  had  better  go  for  Mr. 
Harden." 

"  Then  they  got  here !  "  exclaimed  Forrester. 
"Thank  God!  How's  Milton?  Any  other  accident?" 


GRANT'S  CROSSING  251 

"  Everything's  all  right !  Here  they  all  come !  "  For 
Jonas,  then  Agnew  and  Enoch  were  rushing  from  the 
door  and  amid  the  hubbub  of  exclamations,  Forrester 
was  landed  in  a  bunk  while  Agnew  started  up  the  trail 
indicated  by  Forrester.  But  he  hardly  had  set  out  be 
fore  he  met  Curly,  leading  his  horse  with  Harden  cling 
ing  to  the  saddle.  Both  the  wanderers  were  fed  and  put 
to  bed  and  told  to  sleep,  before  they  tried  to  tell  their 
story.  The  day  was  warm  and  clear  and  Na-che  and 
Jonas  prepared  breakfast  outside,  serving  it  on  the 
rough  table,  under  the  cottonwoods.  Enoch  and  Agnew, 
washed  and  shaved,  were  new  men,  though  still  weak, 
Enoch,  particularly,  being  muscle  sore  and  weary.  Har 
den  and  Forrester  woke  for  more  food,  at  noon,  then 
slept  again.  Milton  dozed  and  woke,  drank  feverishly 
of  the  water  brought  from  the  spring  near  the  cabin, 
and  gazed  with  a  look  of  complete  satisfaction  on  the 
unshaved  dirty  faces  in  the  bunks  across  the  room. 

Agnew  and  Curly  played  poker  all  day  long.  Jonas 
and  Na-che  found  endless  small  tasks  around  the  camp 
that  required  long  consultations  between  them  and  much 
laughter.  When  Enoch  returned  after  breakfast  from  a 
languid  inspection  of  the  Ida,  Diana  was  not  to  be  seen. 
She  had  gone  out  to  get  some  quail,  Na-che  said.  She 
returned  in  an  hour  or  so,  with  a  good  bag  of  rabbit  and 
birds. 

"  To-morrow,  that  will  be  my  job,"  said  Enoch. 

"If  she  wouldn't  let  me  go,  she  mustn't  let  you!" 
called  Curly,  from  his  poker  game,  under  the  trees. 

"  Yes,  I'll  let  any  of  you  take  it  over,  to-morrow," 
replied  Diana,  giving  Na-che  gun  and  bag.  "  To-mor 
row,  Na-che  and  I  turn  the  rescue  mission  over  to  you 
men  and  start  for  Bright  Angel." 

"  Oh,  where's  your  heart,  Miss  Allen !  "  cried  Agnew. 
"  Aren't  you  going  to  wait  to  learn  what  the  doctor  says 
about  Milton?" 

"  And  Diana,"  urged  Enoch,  "  Jonas  and  I  want  to  go 
up  to  Bright  Angel  with  you  and  Na-che.  Won't  you 
wait  a  day  longer,  just  till  we're  a  little  more  fit?  '' 


252         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

Diana,  in  her  worn  corduroy  habit,  her  soft  hat  pulled 
well  over  her  great  eyes,  looked  from  Agnew  to  Enoch, 
smiled  and  did  not  reply.  Enoch  waited  impatiently 
without  the  door  while  she  made  a  call  on  Milton. 

"  Diana !  "  he  exclaimed,  when  she  came  out,  "  aren't 
you  going  to  talk  to  me  even?  Do  come  down  by  the 
Ida  and  see  if  we  can't  be  rid  of  this  horde  of  people  for 
a  while." 

"  I've  been  wanting  to  see  just  how  badly  you'd  treated 
the  poor  old  boat,"  said  Diana,  following  Enoch  toward 
the  shore. 

But  Enoch  had  not  the  slightest  intention  of  holding  an 
inquest  on  the  Ida.  In  the  shade  of  a  gnarled  cedar  to 
which  the  boat  was  tied  as  a  precaution  against  high 
water,  he  had  placed  a  box.  Thither  he  led  Diana. 

"  Do  sit  down,  Diana,  and  let  me  sit  here  at  your  feet. 
I'll  admit  it  should  be  unexpected  joy  enough  just  to  find 
you  here.  But  I'm  greedy.  I  want  you  to  myself,  and 
I  want  to  tell  you  a  thousand  things." 

"  All  right,  Judge,  begin,"  returned  Diana  amiably,  as 
she  clasped  her  knee  with  both  hands  and  smiled  at  him. 
But  Enoch  could  not  begin,  immediately.  Sitting  in  the 
sand  with  his  back  against  the  cedar  he  looked  out  at 
the  Colorado  flowing  so  placidly,  at  the  pale  gray  green 
of  the  far  canyon  walls  and  a  sense  of  all  that  the  river 
signified  to  him,  all  that  it  had  brought  to  him,  all  that 
it  would  mean  to  him  to  leave  it  and  with  it  Diana, — 
Diana  who  had  been  his  other  self  since  he  was  a  lad  of 
eighteen, —  made  him  speechless  for  a  time. 

Diana  waited,  patiently.  At  last,  Enoch  turned  to 
her,  "  All  the  things  I  want  to  say  most,  can't  be  said, 
Diana!" 

"  Are  you  glad  you  took  the  trip  down  the  river, 
Judge?" 

"  Glad !  Was  Roland  glad  he  made  his  adventure  in 
search  of  the  Dark  Tower?  " 

"  Yes,  he  was,  only,  Judge  — " 

Enoch  interrupted.  "  Has  our  friendship  grown  Jess 
since  we  camped  at  the  placer  mine  ?  " 


GRANT'S  CROSSING  253 

Diana  flushed  slightly  and  went  on,  "  Only,  Enoch, 
surely  the  end  of  your  adventure  is  not  a  Dark  Tower 
ending!  " 

"Yes,  it  is,  Diana!  It  can  never  be  any  other." 
Enoch's  fingers  trembled  a  little  as  he  toyed  with  his 
pipe  bowl.  Diana  slowly  looked  away  from  him,  her 
eyes  fastening  themselves  on  a  buzzard  that  circled  over 
the  peaks  across  the  river.  After  a  moment,  she  said, 

"  Then  you  are  going  to  shoot  Brown?  " 

Enoch  startecl  a  little.  "  I'm  not  thinking  of  Brown 
just  now.  I'm  thinking  of  you  and  me." 

He  paused  again  and  again  Diana  waited  until  she  felt 
the  silence  becoming  too  painful.  Then  she  said, 

"  Aren't  you  going  to  tell  me  some  of  the  details  of 
your  trip?  " 

"  I  want  to,  Diana,  but  hang  it,  words  fail  me !  It 
was  as  you  warned  me,  an  hourly  struggle  with  death. 
And  we  fought,  I  think,  not  because  life  was  so  unutter 
ably  sweet  to  any  of  us,  but  because  there  was  such 
wonderful  zest  to  the  fighting.  The  beauty  of  the  Can 
yon,  the  aw  fulness  of  it,  the  unbelievable  rapidity  with 
which  event  piled  on  event.  Why,  Diana,  I  feel  as  if 
I'd  lived  a  lifetime  since  I  first  put  foot  on  the  Ida! 
And  the  glory  of  the  battle!  Diana,  we  were  so  puny, 
so  insignificant,  so  stupid,  and  the  Canyon  was  so  colos 
sal  and  so  diabolically  quick  and  clever !  What  a  fight !  " 

Enoch  laughed  joyfully. 

"  You're  a  new  man !  "  said  Diana,  softly. 

Enoch  nodded.  "  And  now  I'm  to  have  the  ride  back 
to  El  Tovar  with  you  and  the  trip  down  Bright  Angel 
with  you  and  your  father!  For  once  Diana,  Fate  is 
minding  her  own  business  and  letting  me  mind  mine." 

Jonas  approached  hesitatingly.  "  IS!a-che  said  I  had 
to  tell  you,  boss,  though  I  didn't  want  to  disturb  you,  she 
said  I  had  to  though  she  wouldn't  do  it  herself.  Dinner 
is  on  the  table.  And  you  know,  boss,  you  ain't  like  you 
was  when  a  bowl  of  cereal  would  do  you." 

"  I  shouldn't  have  tempted  fate,  Diana!  "  Enoch  sighed, 
as  he  rose  and  followed  her  to  the  cottonwood. 


254          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

Try  as  he  would,  during  the  afternoon,  he  could  not 
bring  about  another  tete-a-tete  with  Diana.  Finally  as 
dusk  drew  near,  he  threw  himself  down,  under  the  cedar 
tree,  his  eyes  sadly  watching  the  evening  mists  rise  over 
the  river.  His  dark  figure  merged  with  the  shadow  of 
the  cedar  and  Na-che  and  Jonas,  establishing  themselves 
on  the  gunwale  of  the  Ida  for  one  of  their  confidential 
chats  did  not  perceive  him.  He  himself  gave  them  no 
heed  until  he  heard  Jonas  say  vehemently : 

"  You're  crazy,  Na-che !  I'm  telling  you  the  boss 
won't  never  marry." 

"  How  do  you  know  what's  in  your  boss's  mind?  "  de 
manded  Na-che. 

"  I  know  all  right.  And  I  know  he  thinks  a  lot  of 
Miss  Diana,  too,  but  I  know  he  won't  marry  her.  He 
won't  marry  anybody." 

"  But  why  ?  "  urged  the  Indian  woman,  sadly,  "  Why 
should  things  be  so  wrong?  When  he  loves  her  and  she 
loves  him  and  they  were  made  for  each  other !  " 

"  How  come  you  to  think  she  loves  him  ?  "  demanded 
Jonas. 

"  Don't  I  know  the  mind  of  my  Diana?  Isn't  she  my 
little  child,  even  if  her  mother  did  bear  her.  Don't  I 
see  her  kiss  that  little  picture  she  has  of  him  in  her  locket 
every  night  when  she  says  her  prayers?" 

"  Well  — "  began  Jonas,  but  he  was  interrupted  by  a 
call  from  Curly. 

"  Whoever's  minding  the  stew  might  be  interested  in 
knowing  that  it's  boiling  over!" 

"Coming!  Coming!"  cried  Jonas  and  Na-che. 
Darkness  had  now  settled  on  the  river.  Enoch  lay 
motionless  until  they  called  him  in  to  supper.  When  he 
entered  the  cabin  where  the  table  was  set,  Curly  cried, 
"  Hello,  Judge !  Where've  you  been  ?  I  swear  you  look 
as  if  you'd  been  walking  with  a  ghost." 

"  Perhaps  I  have,"  Enoch  replied,  grimly,  as  he  took 
his  seat. 

Harden  and  Forrester,  none  too  energetic,  but  shaven 


GRANT'S  CROSSING  255 

and  in  order,  were  at  the  table,  where  their  story  was 
eagerly  picked  from  them. 

Forrester  had  slept  the  first  night  in  the  cavern  Enoch 
had  noted.  Harden  never  even  saw  the  cavern  but  had 
spent  the  night  crawling  steadily  toward  the  rim.  At 
dawn,  Forrester  had  made  his  way  to  the  top  of  the 
butte  by  the  same  route  Enoch  had  followed,  and  had 
seen  Harden,  a  black  speck  moving  laboriously  on  the 
southern  horizon.  He  had  not  recognized  him,  and  set 
out  to  overtake  him.  It  was  not  until  noon  that  he  had 
done  so.  Even  after  he  realized  whom  he  was  pursuing, 
he  had  not  given  up,  for  by  that  time  he  was  rueing  bit 
terly  his  hasty  and  ill-equipped  departure. 

None  of  the  auditors  of  the  two  men  needed  detailed 
description  either  of  the  ardors  of  that  trip  nor  of  the 
embarrassment  of  the  meeting.  Nor  did  Forrester  or 
Harden  attempt  any.  After  they  had  met  they  tried  to 
keep  a  course  that  moved  southwest.  There  were  no 
trails.  For  endless  miles,  fissures  and  buttes,  precipices 
to  be  scaled,  mountains  to  be  climbed,  canyons  to  be 
crossed.  For  one  day  they  were  without  water,  but  the 
morning  following  they  found  a  pot  hole,  full  of  water. 
Weakness  from  lack  of  food  added  much  to  the  peril  of 
the  trip,  one  cottontail  being  the  sole  contribution  of  the 
gun  to  their  larder.  They  did  not  strike  the  trail  until 
the  day  previous  to  their  arrival  in  the  camp. 

"  Have  you  had  enough  desert  to  last  you  the  rest  of 
your  life?"  asked  Curly  as  Harden  ended  the  tale. 

"Not  I!"  said  Forrester,  "nor  Canyon  either!  I'm 
going  to  find  some  method  of  getting  Milt  to  let  me  finish 
the  trip  with  him." 

"  Me  too,"  added  Harden. 

"How  much  quarreling  did  you  do?"  asked  Milton, 
abruptly,  from  the  bunk. 

Neither  man  answered  for  a  moment,  then  Forrester, 
flushing  deeply,  said,  "  All  we  ask  of  you,  Milt,  is  to 
give  us  a  trial.  Set  us  ashore  if  you  aren't  satisfied 
with  us." 


256         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

Milton  grunted  and  Diana  said,  quickly,  "  What  are 
you  people  going  to  do  until  Mr.  Milton  gets  well  ?  " 

All  of  the  crew  looked  toward  the  leader's  bunk. 
"  Wait  till  we  get  the  doctor's  report,"  said  Milton. 
"  Hard,  you  were  going  to  show  Curly  a  placer  claim 
around  here,  weren't  you  ?  " 

'  Yes,  if  I  can  be  spared  for  a  couple  of  days,  we  can 
undertake  that,  day  after  to-morrow." 

"  You're  on !  "  exclaimed  Curly.  "  Judge,  don't  for 
get  you  and  I  are  due  to  have  a  little  conversation  before 
we  separate." 

"  I  haven't  forgotten  it,"  replied  Enoch. 

"  Sometime  to-morrow  then.  To-night  I've  got  to  get 
my  revenge  on  Agnew.  He's  a  wild  cat,  that's  what  he 
is.  Must  have  been  born  in  a  gambling  den.  Sit  in  with 
us,  Judge  or  anybody !  " 

"  Not  I,"  said  Enoch,  shortly. 

"  Still  disapprove,  don't  you,  Judge !  "  gibed  Curly. 
"How  about  the  rest  of  you?  Diana,  can  you  play 
poker?" 

"  Thanks,  Curly !  My  early  education  in  that  line 
was  neglected."  Diana  smiled  and  turned  to  Enoch. 
"  Judge,  do  you  think  you'll  feel  up  to  starting  to-morrow 
afternoon  ?  There's  a  spring  five  miles  west  that  we 
could  make  if  we  leave  here  at  two  o'clock  and  I'd  like 
to  feel  that  I'd  at  least  made  a  start,  to-morrow.  My 
father  is  going  to  be  very  much  worried  about  me.  I'm 
nearly  a  week  overdue,  now." 

"  I'll  be  ready  whenever  you  are,  Diana.  How  about 
you,  Jonas?  " 

"  I'm  always  on  hand,  boss.  Mr.  Milton,  can  I  have 
the  broken  oar  blade  we  kept  to  patch  the  Ida  with?  " 

"  What  do  you  want  it  for,  Jonas?  "  asked  Milton. 

"  I'm  going  to  have  it  framed.  And  Mr.  Harden  and 
Mr.  Agnew,  don't  forget  those  fillums !  " 

"  Lucky  for  you  the  films  were  stored  in  the  Ida, 
Jonas!  "  exclaimed  Agnew.  "  I'll  develop  some  of  those 
in  the  morning,  and  see  what  sort  of  a  show  you  put  up." 

Diana   rose.     "  Well,    good   night   to   you   all !     Mr. 


GRANTS  CROSSING  257 

Milton,  is  there  anything  Na-che  or  I  can  do  for  you?  " 

"  No,  thank  you,  Miss  Allen,  I  think  I'm  in  good 
hands." 

Enoch  rose  to  open  the  door  for  Diana.  "  Thank  you, 
Judge,"  she  said,  "  Good  night!  " 

'"  Diana,"  said  Enoch,  under  cover  of  the  conversa 
tion  at  the  table,  "  before  we  start  to-morrow,  will  you 
give  me  half  an  hour  alone  with  you?  " 

There  was  pain  and  determination  both  in  Enoch's 
voice.  Diana  glanced  at  him  a  little  anxiously  as  she 
answered,  "  Yes,  I  will,  Enoch." 

"  Good  night,  Diana,"  and  Enoch  retired  to  his  bunk, 
where  he  lay  wide  awake  long  after  the  card  game  was 
ended  and  the  room  in  darkness  save  for  the  dull  glow 
of  the  fire. 

He  made  no  attempt  the  next  day  to  obtain  the  half 
hour  Diana  had  promised  him.  He  helped  Jonas  with 
their  meager  preparations  for  the  trip,  then  took  a  gun 
and  started  along  the  trail  which  led  up  the  Ferry  canyon 
to  the  desert.  But  he  had  not  gone  a  hundred  yards, 
when  Diana  called. 

"  Wait  a  moment,  Judge !     I'll  go  with  you." 

She  joined  him  shortly  with  her  gun  and  game  bag. 
"  We'll  have  Na-che  cook  us  a  day's  supply  of  meat  be 
fore  we  start,"  she  said.  "  The  hunting  is  apt  to  be  poor 
on  the  trail  we're  to  take  home." 

Enoch  nodded  but  said  nothing.  Something  of  the 
old  grim  look  was  in  his  eyes  again.  He  paused  at  the 
point  where  the  canyon  gave  place  to  the  desert.  Here 
a  gnarled  mesquite  tree  and  an  old  half -buried  log  be 
neath  it,  offered  mute  evidence  of  a  gigantic  flooding  of 
the  river. 

"  Let's  sit  here  for  a  little  while,  Diana,"  he  said. 

They  put  their  guns  against  the  mesquite  tree  and  sat 
down  facing  the  distant  river. 

"  Diana,"  Enoch  began  abruptly,  "  in  spite  of  what 
your  father  and  John  Seaton  believed  and  wanted  me  to 
believe,  the  things  that  the  Brown  papers  said  about  my 
mother  are  true.  Only,  Brown  did  not  tell  all.  He  did 


258         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

not  give  the  details  of  her  death.  I  suppose  even  Luigi 
hesitated  to  tell  that  because  I  almost  beat  him  to  death 
the  last  time  he  tried  it. 

"  Seaton  and  I  never  talked  much  about  the  matter. 
He  tried  to  ferret  out  facts,  but  had  no  luck.  By  the 
time  I  was  seventeen  or  eighteen  I  realized  that  no  man 
with  a  mother  like  mine  had  a  right  to  marry.  But  I 
missed  the  friendship  of  women,  I  suppose,  for  when  I 
was  perhaps  eighteen  or  nineteen  I  made  a  discovery. 
I  found  that  somewhere  in  my  heart  I  was  carrying  the 
image  of  a  girl,  a  slender  girl,  with  braids  of  light  brown 
hair  wrapped  round  her  head,  a  girl  with  the  largest, 
most  intelligent,  most  tender  gray  eyes  in  the  world,  and 
a  lovely  curving  mouth,  with  deep  corners.  I  named  her 
Lucy,  because  I'd  been  reading  Wordsworth  and  I  began 
to  keep  a  diary  to  her.  I've  kept  :t  ever  since. 

"  You  can  have  no  idea,  how  real,  how  vivid,  how  vital 
a  part  of  my  life  Lucy  became  to  me.  She  was  in  the 
very  deepest  truth  my  better  self,  for  years.  And  then 
this  summer,  a  miracle  occurred !  Lucy  walked  into  my 
office!  Beauty,  serenity,  intelligence,  sweetness,  gaiety, 
and  gallantry  —  these  were  Lucy's  in  the  flesh  as  I  could 
not  even  dream  for  Lucy  of  the  spirit.  Only  in  one  par 
ticular  though  had  I  made  an  actual  error.  Her  name 
was  not  Lucy,  it  was  Diana!  Diana!  the  little  girl  of 
Bright  Angel  who  had  entered  my  turbulent  boyish  heart, 
all  unknown  to  me,  never  to  leave  it !  ...  Diana !  Lucy ! 
I  love  you  and  God  help  me,  I  must  not  marry !  " 

Enoch,  his  nails  cutting  deep  into  his  palms  turned 
from  the  river,  at  which  he  had  been  staring  steadily 
while  speaking,  to  Diana.  Her  eyes  which  had  been 
fastened  on  Enoch's  profile,  now  gazed  deep  into  his, 
pain  speaking  to  pain,  agony  to  agony. 

"  If,"  Enoch  went  on,  huskily,  "  there  is  no  probability 
of  your  growing  to  care  for  me,  then  I  think  our  friend 
ship  can  endure.  I  can  crowd  back  the  lover  and  be 
merely  your  friend.  But  if  you  might  grow  to  care, 
even  ever  so  little,  then,  I  think  at  the  thought  of  your 


GRANT'S  CROSSING  259 

pain,  my  heart  would  break.     So,  I  thought  before  it  is 
too  late  — " 

Suddenly  Diana's  lips  which  had  grown  white,  trem 
bled  a  little.  "It  is  too  late!"  she  whispered.  "It  is 
too  late !  "  and  she  put  her  slender,  sunburned  hands  over 
her  face. 

"Don't!  Oh,  don't !"  groaned  Enoch.  He  took  her 
hands  down,  gently.  Diana's  eyes  were  dry.  Her  cheeks 
were  burning.  Enoch  looked  at  her  steadily,  his  breath 
coming  a  little  quickly,  then  he  rose  and  with  both  her 
hands  in  his  lifted  her  to  her  feet. 

"  Do  you  love  me,  Diana?  "  he  whispered. 

She  looked  up  into  his  eyes.  "  Yes,  Enoch !  Oh, 
yes !  "  she  answered,  brokenly. 

"  How  much  do  you  love  me,  dear?"  he  persisted. 

She  smiled  with  a  tragic  beauty  in  droop  of  lips  and 
anguish  of  eyes.  "  With  all  there  is  in  me  to  give  to 
love,  Enoch." 

"  Then,"  said  Enoch,  "  this  at  least  may  be  mine," 
and  he  laid  his  lips  to  hers. 

When  he  lifted  his  head,  he  smoothed  her  hair  back 
from  her  face.  "  Remember,  I  am  not  deceiving  my 
self,  Diana,"  he  said  huskily.  "  I  have  acted  like  a 
selfish,  unprincipled  brute.  If  I  had  not,  in  Washing 
ton,  let  you  see  that  I  cared,  you  would  have  escaped  all 
this." 

"  I  did  not  want  to  escape  it,  Enoch,"  she  said,  smiling 
again  while  her  lips  quivered.  "  Yet  I  thought  I  would 
have  strength  enough  to  go  away,  without  permitting  you 
to  tell  me  about  it.  But  I  was  not  strong  enough. 
However,"  stepping  away  from  Enoch,  "  now  we  both 
understand,  and  I'll  go  home.  And  we  must  never  see 
each  other  again,  Enoch." 

"  Never  see  each  other  again!  "  he  repeated.  Then  his 
voice  deepened.  "  Go  about  our  day's  work  year  after 
year,  without  even  a  memory  to  ease  the  gnawing  pain. 
God,  Diana,  do  you  think  we  are  machines  to  be  driven 
at  will?" 


260         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

Diana  drew  a  long  breath  and  her  voice  was  very 
steady  as  she  answered.  "  Don't  let's  lose  our  grip  on 
ourselves,  Enoch.  It  only  makes  a  hard  situation  harder. 
Now  that  we  understand  each  other,  let  us  kiss  the  cross, 
and  go  on." 

Enoch,  arms  folded  on  his  chest,  great  head  bowed, 
walked  up  and  down  under  the  trees  slowly  for  a  moment. 
When  he  paused  before  her,  it  was  to  speak  with  his 
customary  calm  and  decision,  though  his  eyes  smoldered. 

"  Diana,  I  want  to  take  the  trip  with  you,  just  as  we 
planned,  and  go  down  Bright  Angel  with  your  father 
and  you.  I  want  those  few  days  in  the  desert  with  you 
to  carry  me  through  the  rest  of  my  life.  You  need  not 
fear,  dear,  that  for  one  moment  I  will  lose  grip  on  my 
self." 

Diana  looked  at  him  as  if  she  never  had  seen  him  be 
fore.  She  looked  at  the  gaunt,  strong  features,  the 
massive  chin,  the  sensitive,  firm  mouth,  the  lines  of  self- 
control  and  purposefulness  around  eyes  and  lips,  and 
over  all  the  deep-seated  sadness  that  made  Enoch's  face 
unforgettable.  Slowly  she  turned  from  him  to  the  desert, 
and  after  a  moment,  as  if  she  had  gathered  strength 
from  the  far  horizon,  she  answered  him,  still  with  the 
little  note  of  steadiness  in  her  voice: 

"  I  think  we'll  have  to  have  those  last  few  days,  to 
gether,  Enoch." 

Enoch  heaved  a  deep  sigh  then  smiled,  brilliantly. 
"  And  now,"  he  said,  "  I  dare  not  go  back  to  camp  with 
out  at  least  discharging  my  gun,  do  you  ?  " 

"  No,  Judge!  "  replied  Diana,  picking  up  her  gun,  with 
a  little  laugh. 

"  Don't  call  me  Judge,  when  we're  alone !  "  protested 
Enoch. 

Diana  with  something  sweeter  than  tenderness  shining 
in  her  great  eyes,  touched  his  hand  softly  with  hers. 

"  No,  dear!  "  she  whispered. 

Enoch  looked  at  her,  drew  a  deep  breath,  then  put  his 
gun  across  his  arm  and  followed  Diana  to  the  yucca 
thicket  where  quail  was  to  be  found.  They  were  very 


GRANT'S  CROSSING  261 

silent  during  the  hour  of  hunting.  They  bagged  a  pair 
of  cottontails  and  a  number  of  quail,  and  when  they 
did  speak,  it  was  only  regarding  the  hunt  or  the  prepara 
tions  for  the  coming  exodus.  They  reached  camp,  just 
before  dinner,  Diana  disappearing  into  the  tent,  and 
Enoch  tramping  prosaically  and  wearily  into  the  cabin 
to  throw  himself  down  on  his  bunk.  He  had  not  yel 
recovered  from  the  last  days  in  the  Canyon. 

"  You  shouldn't  have  tackled  that  tramp  this  morning, 
Judge,"  said  Milton.  "  You  should  have  saved  yourself 
for  this  afternoon." 

'  You  saw  who  his  side  pardner  was,  didn't  you  ?  " 
asked  Curly. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Milton,  grinning. 

"  Then  why  make  foolish  comments?  " 

"  I  am  a  fool !  "  agreed  Milton. 

"  Judge,"  asked  Curly,  "  how  about  you  and  me  having 
our  conflab  right  after  dinner?  " 

"  That  will  suit  me,"  replied  Enoch,  "  if  you  can  drag 
yourself  from  Agnew  and  poker  that  long." 

"  I'll  make  a  superhuman  effort,"  returned  Curly. 

The  conference,  which  took  place  under  the  cedar  near 
the  Ida,  did  not  last  long. 

"  Curly,"  said  Enoch,  lighting  his  pipe,  "  I  haven't 
made  up  my  mind  yet,  whether  I  want  you  to  give  me  the 
information  about  Fowler  and  Brown  or  not." 

"What's  the  difficulty?"  demanded  Curly. 

"  Well,  there's  a  number  of  personal  reasons  that  I 
don't  like  to  go  into.  But  I've  a  suggestion  to  make. 
You  say  you're  trying  to  get  money  together  with  which 
to  retain  a  lawyer  and  carry  out  a  campaign,  so  you 
aren't  in  a  hurry,  anyway.  Now  you  write  down  in  a 
letter  all  that  you  know  about  the  two  men,  and  send  the 
letter  to  me.  I'll  treat  it  as  absolutely  confidential,  and 
will  return  the  material  to  you  without  reading  it  if  I 
decide  not  to  use  it." 

Curly  puffed  thoughtfully  at  his  cigarette.  "  That's 
fair  enough,  Judge.  As  you  say  there's  no  great  hurry 
and  I  always  get  het  up,  anyhow,  when  I  talk  about  it 


262          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

I'd  better  put  it  down  in  cool  black  and  white.  Where 
can  I  reach  you  ?  " 

"No.  814  Blank  Avenue,  Washington,  D.  C,"  re 
plied  Enoch. 

Curly  pulled  an  old  note  book  out  of  his  hip  pocket, 
and  set  down  the  address : 

"  All  right,  Judge,  you'll  hear  from  me  sometime  in 
the  next  few  weeks.  I'll  go  back  now  and  polish  Agnew 
off." 

And  he  hurried  away,  leaving  Enoch  to  smoke  his  pipe 
thoughtfully  as  he  stared  at  the  Ida. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

LOVE   IN    THE   DESERT 

"While  I  was  teaching  my  boy  obedience,  I  would 
teach  him  his  next  great  obligation,  service.  So  only 
could  his  manhood  be  a  full  one." 

—  Enoch's  Diary. 

SHORTLY  after  two  o'clock,  Diana  announced  that 
she  was  ready  to  start.     But  the  good-bys  consumed 
considerable  time  and  it  was  nearly  three  before  they 
were  really  on  their  way.     Enoch's  eyes  were  a  little  dim 
as  he  shook  hands  with  Milton. 

"  Curly  has  my  address,  Milton,"  he  said,  "  drop  me  a 
line  once  in  a  while.  I  shall  be  more  deeply  interested 
in  your  success  than  you  can  realize." 

"  I'll  do  it,  Judge,  and  when  I  get  back  East,  I'll  look 
you  up.  You're  a  good  sport,  old  man !  " 

"  You're  more  than  that,  Milton !  Good-by !  "  and 
Enoch  hurried  out  in  response  to  Jonas'  call. 

They  were  finally  mounted  and  permitted  to  go.  Na- 
che  rode  first,  leading  a  pack  mule,  Jonas  second,  leading 
two  mules,  Diana  followed,  Enoch  bringing  up  the  rear. 
Much  to  Jonas'  satisfaction,  Enoch  had  been  obliged  to 
abandon  the  overalls  and  flannel  shirt  which  he  had  worn 
into  the  Canyon.  Even  the  tweed  suit  was  too  ragged 
and  shrunk  to  be  used  again.  So  he  was  clad  in  the 
corduroy  riding  breeches  and  coat  that  Jonas  had  brought. 
But  John  Red  Sun's  boots  were  still  doing  notable  service 
and  the  soft  hat,  faded  and  shapeless,  was  pulled  down 
over  his  eyes  in  comfort  if  not  in  beauty. 

There  \vas  a  vague  trail  to  the  spring  which  lay  south 
west  of  the  Ferry.  It  led  through  the  familiar  country 
of  fissures  and  draws  that  made  travel  slow  and  heavy. 
The  trail  rose,  very  gradually,  wound  around  a  number 

363 


264          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

of  multi-colored  peaks  and  paused  at  last  at  the  foot  of 
a  smooth-faced,  purple  butte.  Here  grew  a  cottonwood, 
sheltering  from  sun  and  sand  a  lava  bowl,  eroded  by 
time  and  by  the  tiny  stream  of  water  that  dripped  into 
it  gently.  There  was  little  or  no  view  from  the  spring, 
for  peaks  and  buttes  closely  hemmed  it  in.  The  Novem 
ber  shadows  deepened  early  on  the  strange,  winding, 
almost  subterranean  trail,  and  although  when  they  reached 
the  cottonwood,  it  was  not  sundown,  they  made  camp  at 
once.  Diana's  tent  was  set  up  in  the  sand  to  the  right 
of  the  spring.  Enoch  collected  a  meager  supply  of  wood 
and  before  five  o'clock  supper  had  been  prepared  and 
eaten. 

For  a  time,  after  this  was  done,  Enoch  and  Diana  sat 
before  the  tiny  eye  of  fire,  listening  to  the  subdued  chat 
ter  with  which  Jonas  and  Na-che  cleared  up  the  meal. 

Suddenly,  Enoch  said,  "  Diana,  how  brilliant  the  stars 
are,  to-night!  Why  can't  we  climb  to  the  top  of  the 
butte  for  a  little  while  ?  I  feel  smothered  here.  It's  far 
worse  than  the  river  bottom." 

"  Aren't  you  too  tired?  "  asked  Diana. 

"  Not  too  tired  for  as  short  a  climb  as  that,  unless  you 
are  feeling  done  up !  " 

"  I!  "  laughed  Diana.  "Why,  Na-che  will  vouch  for 
it  that  I've  never  had  such  a  lazy  trip  before!  Na-che, 
the  Judge  and  I  are  going  up  the  butte.  Just  keep  a 
little  glow  of  fire  for  us,  will  you,  so  that  we  can  locate 
the  camp  easily." 

"  Yes,  Diana,  and  don't  be  frightened  if  you  hear 
noises.  I'm  going  to  teach  Jonas  a  Navajo  song." 

"  We'll  try  not  to  be,"  replied  Diana,  laughing  as  she 
rose. 

It  was  an  ascent  of  several  hundred  feet,  but  easily 
made  and  the  view  from  the  top  more  than  repaid  them 
for  the  effort.  In  all  his  desert  nights,  Enoch  never  had 
seen  the  stars  so  vivid.  For  miles  about  them  the  shad 
owy  peaks  and  chasms  were  discernible.  And  Diana's 
face  was  delicately  clear  cut  as  she  seated  herself  on  a 
block  of  stone  and  looked  up  at  him. 


LOVE  IN  THE  DESERT  265 

"  Diana,"  said  Enoch,  abruptly,  "  you  make  me  wish 
that  I  were  a  poet,  instead  of  a  politician." 

"  But  you  aren't  a  politician !  "  protested  Diana. 
"  You  shall  not  malign  yourself  so." 

"  A  pleasant  comment  on  our  American  politics !  "  ex 
claimed  Enoch.  "  Well,  whatever  I  am,  words  fail  me 
utterly  when  I  try  to  describe  the  appeal  of  your 
beauty." 

"  Enoch,"  there  was  a  note  of  protest  in  Diana's  voice, 
"  you  aren't  going  to  make  love  to  me  on  this  trip,  are 
you?" 

Enoch's  voice  expressed  entire  astonishment.  "  Why 
certainly  I  am,  Diana!" 

"  You'll  make  it  very  hard  for  me !  "  sighed  Diana. 

Enoch  knelt  in  the  sand  before  her  and  lifted  her  hands 
against  his  cheek. 

"  Sweetheart,"  he  said  softly,  his  great  voice,  rich  and 
mellow  although  it  hardly  rose  above  a  whisper,  "  my 
only  sweetheart,  not  for  all  the  love  in  the  world  would 
I  make  it  hard  for  you.  Not  for  all  your  love  would  I 
even  attempt  to  leave  you  with  one  memory  that  is  not 
all  that  is  sweet  and  noble.  Only  in  these  days  I  want 
you  to  learn  all  there  is  in  my  heart,  as  I  must  learn  all 
that  is  in  yours.  For,  after  that,  Diana,  we  must  never 
see  each  other  again." 

Diana  freed  one  of  her  hands  and  brushed  the  tumbled 
hair  from  Enoch's  forehead. 

"  Do  you  realize,"  he  said,  quietly,  "  that  in  all  the 
years  of  my  memory  no  woman  has  caressed  me  so? 
I  am  starved,  Diana,  for  just  such  a  gentle  touch  as 
that." 

"  Then  you  shall  be  starved  no  more,  dearest.  Sit 
down  in  the  sand  before  me  and  lean  your  head  against 
my  knee.  There!"  as  Enoch  turned  and  obeyed  her. 
"  Now  we  can  both  look  out  at  the  stars  and  I  can  smooth 
your  hair.  What  a  mass  of  it  you  have,  Enoch !  And 
you  must  have  been  a  real  carrot  top  when  you  were  a 
little  boy." 

"  I  was  an  ugly  brat,"  said  Enoch,  comfortably.     "  A 


266         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

red-headed,    freckled- faced,    awkward    brat!     And    un 
happy  and  disagreeable  as  I  was  ugly." 

"  It  seems  so  unfair!  "  Diana  smoothed  the  broad  fore 
head,  tenderly.  "  I  had  such  a  happy  childhood.  I 
didn't  go  to  school  until  I  was  twelve.  Until  then  I 
lived  the  life  of  a  little  Indian,  out  of  doors,  taking  the 
trail  trips  with  dad  or  geologizing  with  mother.  I  don't 
know  how  many  horses  and  dogs  I  had.  Their  number 
was  limited  only  by  what  mother  and  father  felt  they 
could  afford  to  feed." 

"  There  was  nothing  unfair  in  your  having  had  all  the 
joy  that  could  be  crammed  into  your  childhood,"  pro 
tested  Enoch.  "  Nature  and  circumstance  were  helping 
to  make  you  what  you  are.  I  don't  see  that  anything 
could  have  been  omitted.  Listen,  Diana." 

Plaintivel}  from  below  rose  Na-che's  voice  in  a  slow 
sweet  chant.  Jonas's  baritone  hesitatingly  repeated  the 
strain,  and  after  a  moment  they  softly  sang  it  together. 

"Oh,  this  is  perfect!'*  murmured  Enoch.  "Per 
fect  !  "  Then  he  drew  Diana's  hand  to  his  lips. 

How  long  they  sat  in  silence  listening  to  the  wistful 
notes  that  floated  up  to  them,  neither  could  have  told. 
But  when  the  singing  finally  ceased,  Diana,  with  a  sud 
den  shiver  said, 

"  Enoch,  I  want  to  go  back  to  the  camp." 

Enoch  rose  at  once,  with  a  rueful  little  laugh.  "  Our 
first  precious  evening  is  ended,  and  we've  said  nothing !  " 

"Nothing!"  exclaimed  Diana.  "Enoch,  what  was 
there  left  to  say  when  I  could  touch  your  hair  and  fore 
head  so?  We  can  talk  on  the  trail." 

"  Starlight  and  you  and  Na-che's  little  song,"  mur 
mured  Enoch;  "  I  am  hard  to  satisfy,  am  I  not?  "  He 
put  his  arms  about  Diana  and  kissed  her  softly,  then  let 
her  lead  the  way  down  to  the  spring.  And  shortly,  rolled 
in  his  blankets,  his  feet  to  the  dying  fire,  Enoch  was 
deep  in  sleep. 

Sun-up  found  them  on  the  trail  again.  All  day  the 
way  wound  through  country  that  had  been  profoundly 
eroded.  Na-che  led  by  instinct,  it  seemed  to  Enoch,  for 


LOVE  IN  THE  DESERT  -167 

when  they  were  a  few  miles  from  the  spring,  as  far  as  he, 
at  least,  could  observe,  the  trail  disappeared,  entirely. 
During  the  morning,  they  walked  much,  for  the  over 
hanging  ledges  and  sudden  chasms  along  which  Na-che 
guided  them  made  even  the  horses  hesitate.  They  were 
obliged  to  depend  on  their  canteens  for  water  and  there 
was  no  sign  of  forage  for  the  horses  and  mules.  Every 
one  was  glad  when  the  noon  hour  came. 

"  It  will  be  better,  to-night,"  explained  Diana. 
"  There  are  water  holes  known  as  Indian's  Cups  that 
we  should  reach  before  dark.  They're  sure  to  be  full 
of  water,  for  it  has  rained  so  much  lately.  The  way  will 
be  far  easier  to-morrow,  Enoch,  so  that  we  can  talk  as 
we  go." 

They  were  standing  by  the  horses,  waiting  for  Jonas 
and  Na-che  to  put  the  dishes  in  one  of  the  packs. 

"  Diana,  do  you  realize  that  you  made  no  comment 
whatever  on  what  I  told  you  yesterday?  Didn't  the 
story  of  Lucy  seem  wonderful  to  you?  " 

"  I  was  too  deeply  moved  to  make  any  very  sane  com 
ment,"  replied  Diana.  "  Enoch,  will  you  let  me  see  the 
diary?" 

"  When  I  die,  it  is  to  be  yours,  but  — "  he  hesitated, 
"  it  tells  so  many  of  my  weaknesses,  that  I  wouldn't  like 
to  be  alive  and  feel  that  you  know  so  much  about  them." 
He  laughed  a  little  sadly. 

"Yet  you  told  Lucy  them,  didn't  you?"  insisted  Di 
ana  with  a  smile.  "  Don't  make  me  jealous  of  that  per 
son,  Enoch !  " 

"  She  was  you !  "  returned  Enoch,  briefly.  "  To-night, 
I'll  tell  you,  Lucy,  some  of  the  things  you  have  for 
gotten." 

"  You're  a  dear,"  murmured  Diana,  under  her  breath, 
turning  to  mount  as  Jonas  and  Na-che  clambered  into 
their  saddles. 

All  the  afternoon,  Enoch,  riding  under  the  burning 
sun,  through  the  ever  shifting  miracles  of  color,  rested 
in  his  happy  dream.  The  past  and  the  future  did  not 
exist  for  him.  It  was  enough  that  Diana,  straight  and 


268         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

slender  and  unflagging  rode  before  him.  It  was  enough 
that  that  evening  after  the  years  of  yearning  he  would 
feel  the  touch  of  Lucy's  hand  or  his  burning  forehead. 
For  the  first  time  in  his  life,  Enoch's  spirit  was  at  peace. 

The  pools  were  well  up  on  the  desert,  where  pinnacles 
and  buttes  had  given  way  at  last  to  a  roughly  level  coun 
try,  with  only  occasional  fissures  as  reminders  of  the 
canyon.  Bear  grass  and  yucca,  barrel  and  fish-hook  cac 
tus  as  well  as  the  ocotilla  appeared.  The  sun  was  sink 
ing  when  the  horses  smelled  water  and  cantered  to  the 
shallow  but  grateful  basins.  Far  to  the  south,  the  chaos 
out  of  which  they  had  labored  was  black,  and  mysterious 
with  drifting  vapors.  The  wind  which  whirled  forever 
among  the  chasms  was  left  behind.  They  had  entered 
into  silence  and  tranquillity. 

After  supper  and  while  the  last  glow  of  the  sunset 
still  clung  to  the  western  horizon,  Na-che  said, 

"  Jonas,  you  want  to  see  the  great  Navajo  charm,  made 
by  Navajo  god  when  he  made  these  waterholes?  " 

Jonas  pricked  up  his  ears.  "  Is  it  a  good  charm  or  a 
hoo-doo?  " 

"If  you  come  at  it  right,  it  means  you  never  die," 
Na-che  nodded  her  head  solemnly. 

Jonas  put  a  cat's  claw  root  on  the  fire.  "  All  right ! 
You  see,  woman,  that  I  come  at  it  right." 

Na-che  smiled  and  led  the  way  eastward. 

"Bless  them!"  exclaimed  Enoch.  "They're  doing 
the  very  best  they  can  for  us !  " 

"  And  they're  having  a  beautiful  time  with  each  other," 
added  Diana.  "  I  think  Jonas  loves  you  as  much  as 
Na-che  loves  me." 

"  I  don't  deserve  that  much  love,"  said  Enoch,  watch 
ing  the  fire  glow  on  Diana's  face.  "  But  he  is  the  truest 
friend  I  have  on  earth." 

Diana  gave  him  a  quick,  wide-eyed  glance. 

"Ah,  but  you  don't  know  me,  as  Jonas  does!  I 
wouldn't  want  you  to  know  me  as  he  does!  "  exclaimed 
Enoch. 


LOVE  IN  THE  DESERT  269 

"  I'll  not  admit  either  Lucy  or  Jonas  as  serious  rivals," 
protested  Diana. 

Enoch  laughed.  "  Dearest,  I  have  told  you  things 
that  Jonas  would  not  dream  existed.  I  have  poured  out 
my  heart  to  you,  night  after  night.  All  a  boy's  aching 
dreams,  all  a  man's  hopes  and  fears,  I've  shared  with  you. 
Jonas  was  not  that  kind  of  friend.  I  first  met  him  when 
I  became  secretary  to  the  Mayor  of  New  York.  He  was 
a  sort  of  porter  or  doorman  at  the  City  Hall.  He  gradu 
ally  began  to  do  little  personal  things  for  me  and  before 
I  realized  just  how  it  was  accomplished,  he  became  my 
valet  and  steward,  and  was  keeping  house  for  me  in  a 
little  flat  up  on  Fourth  Avenue. 

"  And  then,  when  I  was  still  in  the  City  Hall  I  had  a 
row  with  Luigi.  He  spoke  of  my  mother  to  a  group  of 
officials  I  was  taking  through  Minetta  Lane. 

"  Diana,  it  was  Luigi  who  taught  me  to  gamble  when 
I  was  not  over  eight  years  old.  I  took  to  it  with  devilish 
skill.  What  drink  or  dope  or  women  have  been  to  other 
men,  gambling  has  been  to  me.  After  I  came  back  from 
the  Grand  Canyon  with  John  Seaton,  I  began  to  fight 
against  it.  But,  although  I  waited  on  table  for  my 
board,  I  really  put  myself  through  the  High  School  on 
my  earnings  at  craps  and  draw  poker.  As  I  grew  older 
I  ceased  to  gamble  as  a  means  of  subsistence  but  when 
ever  I  was  overtaxed  mentally  I  was  drawn  irresistibly 
to  a  gambling  den.  And  so  after  the  fight  with  Luigi  — " 

Enoch  paused,  his  face  knotted.  His  strong  hands, 
clasping  his  knees  as  he  sat  in  the  sand,  opposite  Diana, 
were  tense  and  hard.  Diana,  looking  at  him  thought  of 
what  this  man  meant  to  the  nation,  of  what  his  service 
had  been  and  would  be:  she  thought  of  the  great  gifts 
with  which  nature  had  endowed  him  and  she  could  not 
bear  to  have  him  humble  himself  to  her. 

She  sprang  to  her  feet.  "  Enoch !  Enoch ! ''  she 
cried.  "  Don't  tell  me  any  more !  You  are  entitled  to 
your  personal  weaknesses.  Even  I  must  not  intrude! 
I  asked  you  about  them  because,  oh,  because,  Enoch, 


270         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

you  are  letting  your  only  real  weakness  come  between 
you  and  me." 

Enoch  had  risen  with  Diana,  and  now  he  came  around 
the  fire  and  put  his  hands  on  her  shoulders.  "  No ! 
No!  Diana!  not  my  weaknesses  keep  us  apart,  bitterly 
as  they  mortify  me." 

Diana  looked  up  at  him  steadily.  "  Enoch,  your  great 
weakness  is  not  gambling.  Who  cares  whether  you  play 
cards  or  not  ?  No  one  but  Brown !  But  your  weakness 
is  that  you  have  let  those  early  years  and  Luigi's  vicious 
stones  warp  your  vision  of  the  sweetest  thing  in  life." 
"Diana!  I  thought  you  understood.  My  mother — " 
"  Don't!  "  interrupted  Diana,  quickly.  "  Don't!  I  un 
derstand  and  because  I  do,  I  tell  you  that  you  are  warped. 
You  are  America's  only  real  statesman,  the  man  with  a 
vision  great  enough  to  mold  ideals  for  the  nation.  Still 
you  are  not  normal,  not  sane,  about  yourself." 

Enoch  dropped  his  hands  from  her  shoulders  and  stood 
staring  at  her  sadly. 

"  I  thought  you  understood !  "  he  whispered,  brokenly. 
Diana  wrung  her  hands,  turned  and  walked  swiftly 
toward  a  neighboring  heap  of  rocks  whose  shadows  swal 
lowed  her.  Enoch  breathed  hard  for  a  moment,  then 
followed.  He  found  Diana,  a  vague  heap  on  a  great 
stone,  her  face  buried  in  her  hands.  Enoch  sat  down 
beside  her  and  took  her  in  his  arms. 

"  Sweetheart,"  he  whispered,  "  what  have  I  done?  " 
Diana,  shaken  by  dry  sobs,  did  not  reply.     But  she 
put  her  arms  about  his  neck  and  clung  to  him  as  though 
she  could  never  let  him  go.     Enoch  sat  holding  her  in  an 
ecstasy  that  was  half  pain.     Dusk  thickened  into  night 
and  the  stars  burned  richly  above  them.     Enoch  could 
see  that  Diana's  face  against  his  breast  was  quiet,  her 
great  eyes  fastened  on  the.  desert.     He  whispered  again, 
"  Diana,  what  have  I  done?  " 

"  You  have  made  me  love  you  so  that  I  cannot  bear  to 
think  of  the  future,"  she  replied.  "  It  was  not  wise  of 
us  to  take  this  trip  together,  Enoch." 

Enoch's  arms  tightened  about  her.     "  We'll  be  thank- 


LOVE  IN  THE  DESERT  271 

ful  all  our  lives  for  it,  Diana.  And  you  haven't  really 
answered  my  question,  darling!  " 

Diana  drew  herself  away  from  him.  "  Enoch,  let's 
never  mention  the  subject  again.  The  things  you  under 
stand  by  weakness  —  why,  I  don't  care  if  you  have  a 
thousand  of  them!  But,  dear,  I  want  the  diary.  «When 
you  leave  El  Tovar,  leave  that  much  of  yourself  with 
me." 

Enoch's  voice  was  troubled.  "  I  have  been  so  curi 
ously  lonely !  You  can  have  no  idea  of  what  the  diary 
has  meant  to  me." 

"I  won't  ask  you  for  it,  Enoch!"  exclaimed  Diana. 
Suddenly  she  leaned  forward  in  the  moonlight  and  kissed 
him  softly  on  the  lips. 

Enoch  drew  her  to  him  and  kissed  her  fiercely.  "  The 
diary!  It  is  yours,  Diana,  yours  in  a  thousand  ways. 
When  you  read  it,  you  will  understand  why  I  hesitated 
to  give  it  to  you." 

"  I'll  find  some  way  to  thank  you,"  breathed  Diana. 

"  I  know  a  way.  Give  me  some  of  your  desert  photo 
graphs.  Choose  those  that  you  think  tell  the  most. 
And  don't  forget  Death  and  the  Navajo." 

"  Oh,  Enoch !  What  a  splendid  suggestion !  You've 
no  idea  how  I  shall  enjoy  making  the  collection  for  you. 
It  will  take  several  months  to  complete  it,  you  know." 

"  Don't  wait  to  complete  the  collection.  Send  the 
prints  one  at  a  time,  as  you  finish  them.  Send  them  to 
my  house,  not  my  office." 

Soft  voices  sounded  from  the  camping  place.  "  We 
must  go  back,"  said  Diana. 

"  Another  evening  gone,  forever,"  said  Enoch.  "  How 
many  more  have  we,  Diana  ?  " 

"  Three  or  four.  One  never  knows,  in  the  Canyon 
country." 

They  moved  slowly,  hand  in  hand,  toward  the  fire 
light.  Just  before  they  came  within  its  zone,  Enoch 
lifted  Diana's  hand  to  his  lips. 

"  Good  night,  Diana!  " 

"Good  night,  Enoch!" 


272         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

Jonas  and  Na-che,  standing  by  the  fire  like  two  brown 
genii  of  the  desert,  looked  up  smiling  as  the  two  ap 
peared. 

"  Ain't  they  a  handsome  pair,  Na-che  ?  "  asked  Jonas, 
softly.  "  Ain't  he  a  grand  looking  man  ?  " 

Na-che  assented.  "  I  wish  I  could  get  each  of  'em  to 
wear  a  love  ring.  I  could  get  two  the  best  medicine  man 
in  the  desert  country  made." 

"  Where  are  they?  "  demanded  Jonas  eagerly. 

"  Up  near  Bright  Angel." 

"  You  get  'em  and  I'll  pay  for  'em,"  urged  Jonas. 

"  We  can't  buy  'em !     They  got  to  be  taken." 

"  Well,  how  come  you  to  think  I  couldn't  take  'em, 
woman?  You  show  me  where  they  are.  I'll  do  the 
rest." 

"  All  right,"  said  Na-che.  "  Diana,  don't  you  feel 
tired?" 

"  Tired  enough  to  go  to  bed,  anyway,"  replied  Diana. 
"  It's  going  to  be  a  very  cold  night.  Be  sure  that  you 
and  the  Judge  have  plenty  of  blankets,  Jonas.  Good 
night!  "  and  she  disappeared  into  the  tent. 

The  night  was  stinging  cold.  Ice  formed  on  the  rain 
pools  and  they  ate  breakfast  with  numbed  hands.  As 
usual,  however,  the  mercury  began  to  climb  with  the  sun 
and  when  at  mid-morning,  they  entered  a  huge  purple 
depression  in  the  desert,  coats  were  peeled  and  gloves 
discarded. 

The  depression  was  an  ancient  lava  bed,  deep  with 
lavender  dust  that  rose  chokingly  about  them.  There 
was  a  heavy  wind  that  increased  as  they  rode  deeper  into 
the  great  bowl  and  this,  with  the  swirling  sand,  made 
the  noon  meal  an  unpleasant  duty.  But,  in  spite  of  these 
discomforts,  Enoch  managed  to  ride  many  miles,  during 
the  day,  with  his  horse  beside  Diana's.  And  he  talked 
to  her  as  though  he  must  in  the  short  five  days  make  up 
for  a  life  time  of  reticence. 

He  told  her  of  the  Seatons  and  all  that  John  Seaton 
had  done  for  him.  He  told  her  of  his  years  of  dream- 


LOVE  IN  THE  DESERT  273 

ing  of  the  Canyon  and  of  his  days  as  Police  Commis 
sioner.  He  told  of  dreams  he  had  had  as  a  Congress 
man  and  as  a  Senator  and  of  the  great  hopes  with  which 
he  had  taken  up  the  work  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 
And  finally,  as  the  wind  began  to  lessen  with  the  sinking 
sun,  and  the  tired  horses  slowed  to  the  trail's  lifting 
from  the  bowl,  he  told  her  of  his  last  speaking  trip,  of  its 
purpose  and  of  its  results. 

"  The  more  I  know  you,"  said  Diana,  "  the  more  I  am 
confirmed  in  the  opinion  I  had  of  you  years  before  I  met 
you.  And  that  is  that  however  our  great  Departments 
need  men  of  your  administrative  capacity  and  integrity 
—  and  I'm  perfectly  willing  to  admit  that  their  need  is 
dire  —  your  place,  Enoch  Huntingdon,  is  in  the  Senate. 
Yet  I  suppose  your  party  will  insist  on  pushing  you  on 
into  the  White  House.  And  it  will  be  a  mistake." 

"  Why  ?  "  asked  Enoch  quickly. 

"  Because,"  replied  Diana,  brushing  the  lavender  dust 
from  her  brown  hands  thoughtfully,  "  your  gift  of  ora 
tory,  your  fundamental,  sane  dreams  for  the  nation,  your 
admirable  character,  impose  a  particular  and  peculiar 
duty  on  you.  It  has  beiiii  many  generations  since  the 
nation  had  a  spokesman.  Patrick  Henry,  Daniel  Web 
ster,  have  been  dead  a  long  time.  Most  of  our  orators 
since  have  killed  their  own  influence  by  fanatical  cling 
ing  to  some  partisan  cause.  You  should  be  bigger  than 
any  party,  Enoch.  And  in  the  White  House  you  cannot 
be.  Our  spoils  system  has  achieved  that.  But  in  the 
Senate  is  your  great,  natural  opportunity." 

Enoch  smiled.  "  Without  the  flourishes  of  praise,  I've 
reached  about  the  same  conclusion  that  you  have,"  he 
said.  "  I  have  been  told,"  he  hesitated,  "  that  I  could 
have  the  party  nomination  for  the  presidency,  if  I  wished 
it.  You  know  that  practically  assures  election." 

Diana  nodded.     "And  it's  a  temptation,  of  course!" 

"  Yes  and  no !  "  replied  Enoch.  "  No  man  could  help 
being  moved  and  flattered,  yes,  and  tempted  by  the  sug 
gestion.  And  yet  when  I  think  of  the  loneliness  of  a 
man  like  me  in  the  White  House,  the  loneliness,  and  the 


274         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

gradual  disillusionment  such  as  the  President  spoke  of  to 
you,  the  temptation  has  very  little  effect  on  me." 

"  How  kind  he  was  that  day!  "  exclaimed  Diana,  "  and 
how  many  years  ago  it  seems!  " 

They  rode  on  in  silence  for  a  few  moments,  then  Diana 
exclaimed,  "  Look,  Enoch  dear !  " 

Ahead  of  them,  along  the  rim  of  the  bowl,  an  Indian 
rode.  His  long  hair  was  flying  in  the  wind.  Both  he 
and  his  horse  were  silhouetted  sharply  against  the  bril 
liant  western  sky. 

"  Make  a  picture  of  it,  Diana!  "  cried  Enoch. 

Diana  shook  her  head.  "  I  could  make  nothing  of 
it!" 

Na-che  gave  a  long,  shrill  call,  which  the  Indian  re 
turned,  then  pulled  up  his  horse  to  wait  for  them.  When 
Enoch  and  Diana  reached  the  rim,  the  others  already  had 
overtaken  him. 

"  It's  Wee-tah ! "  exclaimed  Diana,  then  as  she  shook 
hands,  she  added :  "  Where  are  you  going  so  fast,  Wee- 
tah?" 

The  Indian,  a  handsome  young  buck,  his  hair  bound 
with  a  knotted  handkerchief,  glanced  at  Enoch  and  an 
swered  Diana  in  Navajo. 

Diana  nodded,  then  said :  "  Judge,  this  is  Wee-tah,  a 
friend  of  mine." 

Enoch  and  the  Indian  shook  hands  gravely,  and  Diana 
said,  "  Can't  you  take  supper  with  us,  Wee-tah?  " 

"  You  stay,  Wee-tah,"  Na-che  put  in  abruptly.  "  Jonas 
and  I  want  you  to  help  us  with  a  charm." 

"  Na-che  says  you  know  a  heap  about  charms,  Mr. 
Wee-tah!  "  exclaimed  Jonas. 

Wee-tah  grinned  affably.  "  I  stay,"  he  said.  "  Only 
the  whites  have  to  hurry.  Good  water  hole  right  there." 
He  jerked  his  thumb  over  his  shoulder,  then  turned  his 
pony  and  led  the  way  a  few  hundred  yards  to  a  low  out 
cropping  of  stones,  the  hollowed  top  of  which  held  a 
few  precious  gallons  of  rain  water. 

"  My  Lordy !  "  exclaimed  Jonas,  as  he  and  Enoch  were 
hobbling  their  horses,  "  if  I  don't  have  some  charms  and 


LOVE  IN  THE  DESERT  275 

hoo-doos  to  put  over  on  those  Baptist  folks  back  home! 
Why,  these  Indians  have  got  even  a  Georgia  nigger  beat 
for  knowing  the  spirits." 

"Jonas,  you're  an  old  fool,  but  I  love  you!"  said 
Enoch. 

Jonas  chuckled,  and  hurried  off  to  help  Na-che  with  the 
supper.  The  stunted  cat's  claw  and  mesquite  which  grew 
here  plentifully  made  possible  a  glorious  fire  that  was 
most  welcome,  for  the  evening  was  cold.  Enoch  under 
took  to  keep  the  big  blaze  going  while  Wee-tah  prepared 
a  small  fire  at  a  little  distance  for  cooking  purposes. 
After  supper  the  two  Indians  and  Jonas  gathered  round 
this  while  Enoch  and  Diana  remained  at  what  Jonas 
designated  as  the  front  room  stove. 

"  What  solitary  trip  was  Wee-tah  undertaking?  "  asked 
Enoch.  "  Or  mustn't  I  inquire?  " 

"  On  one  of  the  buttes  in  the  canyon  country,"  replied 
Diana,  "  Wee-tah's  grandfather,  a  great  chief,  was  killed, 
years  ago.  Wee-tah  is  going  up  to  that  butte  to  pray 
for  his  little  son  who  has  never  been  born." 

"  Ah !  "  said  Enoch,  and  fell  silent.  Diana,  in  her  fa 
vorite  attitude,  hands  clasping  her  knees,  watched  the 
fire.  At  last  Enoch  roused  himself. 

"  Shall  you  come  to  Washington  this  winter,  Diana?  " 

"  I  ought  to,  but  I  may  not.  I  may  go  into  the  Have- 
supai  country  for  two  months,  after  you  go  East,  and  put 
Washington  off  until  late  spring." 

"  Don't  fear  that  I  shall  disturb  you,  when  you  come, 
dear."  Enoch  looked  at  Diana  with  troubled  eyes. 

She  looked  at  him,  but  said  nothing,  and  again  there 
was  silence.  Enoch  emptied  his  pipe  and  put  it  in  his 
pocket. 

"  After  you  have  finished  this  work  for  the  President, 
then  what,  Diana?  " 

She  shook  her  head.  "  There  is  plenty  of  time  to  plan 
for  that.  If  I  go  into  the  angle  of  the  children's  games 
and  their  possible  relations  to  religious  ceremonies,  there's 
no  telling  when  I  shall  wind  up!  Then  there  are  their 
superstitions  that  careful  study  might  separate  clearly 


276         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

from  their  true  spiritism.  The  great  danger  in  work 
like  mine  is  that  it  is  apt  to  grow  academic.  In  the  pur 
suit  of  dry  ethnological  facts  one  forgets  the  artistry 
needed  to  preserve  it  and  present  it  to  the  world." 

"  Whew!  "  sighed  Enoch.  "  I'm  afraid  you're  a  fear 
ful  highbrow,  Diana!  Hello,  Jonas,  what  can  I  do  for 
you?" 

"  We  all  are  going  down  the  desert  a  piece  with  Wee- 
tali.  They's  a  charm  down  there  he  knows  about.  They 
think  we'll  be  gone  about  an  hour.  But  don't  worry 
about  us." 

"  Don't  let  the  ghosts  get  you,  old  man,"  said  Enoch. 
"  After  all  you've  lived  through,  that  would  be  too  sim 
ple." 

Jonas  grinned,  and  followed  the  Indians  out  into  the 
darkness. 

"  Now,"  inquired  Enoch,  "  is  that  tact  or  supersti 
tion  ?  " 

"  Both,  I  should  say,"  replied  Diana.  "  We'll  have  to 
agree  that  Na-che  and  Jonas  are  doing  all  they  can  to 
make  the  match.  I  gather  from  what  Na-che  says  that 
they're  working  mostly  on  love  charms  for  us." 

"  More  power  to  'em,"  said  Enoch  grimly.  "  Diana, 
let's  walk  out  under  the  stars  for  a  little  while.  The  fire 
dims  them." 

They  rose,  and  Enoch  put  his  arm  about  the  girl  and 
said,  with  a  tenderness  in  his  beautiful  voice  that  seemed 
to  Diana  a  very  part  of  the  harmony  of  the  glowing  stars : 

"Diana!     Oh,  Diana!     Diana!" 

She  wondered  as  they  moved  slowly  away  from  the 
fire,  if  Enoch  had  any  conception  of  the  beauty  of  his 
voice.  It  seemed  to  her  to  express  the  man  even  more 
fully  than  his  face.  All  the  sweetness,  all  the  virility,  all 
the  suffering,  all  the  capacity  for  joy  that  was  written  in 
Enoch's  face  was  expressed  in  his  voice,  with  the  addi 
tion  of  a  melodiousness  that  only  tone  could  give.  Al 
though  she  never  had  heard  him  make  a  speech  she  knew 
how  even  his  most  commonplace  sentence  must  wing 
home  to  the  very  heart  of  the  hearer. 


LOVE  IN  THE  DESERT  277 

They  said  less,  in  this  hour  alone  together,  than  they 
said  in  any  evening  of  their  journey.  And  yet  they  both 
felt  as  if  it  was  the  most  nearly  perfect  of  their  hours. 

Perhaps  it  was  because  the  sky  was  more  magnificent 
than  it  had  been  before;  the  stars  larger  and  nearer  and 
the  sky  more  deeply,  richly  blue. 

Perhaps  it  was  because  after  the  dusk  and  heat  of  the 
day,  the  uproar  of  the  sand  and  wind,  the  cool  silence 
was  doubly  impressive  and  thrice  grateful. 

And  perhaps  it  was  because  of  some  wordless,  intan 
gible  reason,  that  only  lovers  know,  which  made  Diana 
seem  more  beautiful,  more  pure,  her  touch  more  sacred, 
and  Enoch  stronger,  finer,  tenderer  than  ever  before. 

At  any  rate,  walking  slowly,  with  their  arms  about 
each  other,  they  were  deeply  happy. 

And  Enoch  said,  "  Diana,  I  know  now  that  not  one  mo 
ment  of  the  loneliness  and  the  bitterness  of  the  years, 
would  I  part  with.  All  of  it  serves  to  make  this  moment 
more  perfect." 

And  suddenly  Diana  said,  "  Enoch,  hold  me  close  to 
you  again,  here,  under  the  stars,  so  that  I  may  never  again 
look  at  them,  when  I'm  alone  in  the  desert,  without  feel 
ing  your  dear  arms  about  me,  and  your  dear  cheek  against 
mine." 

And  when  they  were  back  by  the  fire  again,  Enoch  once 
more  leaned  against  Diana's  knee  and  felt  the  soft  touch 
of  her  hand  on  his  hair  and  forehead. 

The  three  magic-makers  returned,  chanting  softly,  as 
magic-makers  should.  Faint  and  far  across  the  desert 
sounded  the  intriguing  rhythm  long  before  the  three  dark 
faces  were  caught  by  the  firelight.  When  they  finally 
appeared,  Jonas  was  bearing  an  eagle's  feather. 

"  Miss  Diana,"  he  said  solemnly,  "  will  you  give  me 
one  of  your  long  hairs?  " 

Quite  as  solemnly,  Diana  plucked  a  long  chestnut  spear 
and  Jonas  wrapped  it  round  the  stem  of  the  feather. 
Then  he  joined  the  other  two  at  the  water  hole.  Enoch 
and  Diana  looked  at  each  other  with  a  smile. 

"  Do  you  think  it  will  work,  Diana?  "  asked  Enoch. 


278         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  Eagle  feather  magic  is  strong  magic,"  replied  Diana. 
"  I  shall  go  to  sleep  believing  in  it.  Good  night,  Enoch." 

"  Good  night,  Diana." 

Wee-tah  left  them  after  breakfast,  cantering  away 
briskly  on  his  pony,  his  long  hair  blowing,  Na-che  and 
Jonas  shouting  laughingly  after  him. 

It  was  a  brisk,  clear  morning,  with  ribbons  of  mist 
blowing  across  the  distant  ranges.  By  noon,  their  way 
was  leading  through  scattered  growths  of  stunted  cedar 
and  juniper  with  an  occasional  gnarled,  undersized  oak 
in  which  grew  mistletoe  thick-hung  with  ivory  berries. 
Bear  grass  and  bunch  grass  dotted  the  sand.  Orioles 
and  robins  sang  as  they  foraged  for  the  blue  cedar  berry. 
All  the  afternoon  the  trees  increased  in  size  and  when  they 
made  camp  at  night,  it  was  under  a  giant  pine  whose 
kindred  stretched  in  every  direction  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  pierce  through  the  dusk.  There  was  water  in  a 
tiny  rivulet  near  by. 

"It's  heavenly,  Diana!"  exclaimed  Enoch,  as  he  re 
turned  from  hobbling  the  horses.  "  We  must  be  getting 
well  up  as  to  elevation.  There  is  a  tang  to  the  air  that 
says  so." 

Diana  nodded  a  little  sadly.  "  One  night  more,  after 
this,  then  you'll  sleep  at  El  Tovar,  Enoch." 

"  I'm  not  thinking  even  of  to-morrow,  Diana.  This 
moment  is  enough.  Are  you  tired?  " 

"Tired?  No!"  but  the  eyes  she  lifted  to  Enoch's 
were  faintly  shadowed.  "  Perhaps,"  she  suggested,  "  I'm 
not  living  quite  so  completely  in  the  present  as  you  are." 

"  Necessity  hasn't  trained  you  during  the  years,  as  it 
has  me,"  said  Enoch.  "If  the  trail  had  not  been  so  bad 
to-day  and  I  could  have  ridden  beside  you,  I  think  I  could 
have  kept  your  thoughts  here,  sweetheart." 

"  I  think  you  could  have,  Enoch,"  agreed  Diana,  with  a 
wistful  smile. 

The  hunting  had  been  good  that  day.  Amongst  them, 
the  travelers  had  bagged  numerous  quail  and  cottontails, 
and  Jonas  had  brought  in  at  noon  a  huge  jack  rabbit. 
This  they  could  not  eat  but  its  left  hind  foot,  Jonas 


LOVE  IN  THE  DESERT  279 

claimed,  would  make  a  sensation  in  Washington.  Sup 
per  was  a  festive  meal,  Na-che  producing  a  rabbit  soup, 
and  Jonas  broiling  the  quail,  which  he  served  with  hot 
biscuit  that  the  most  accomplished  chef  might  have  en 
vied. 

After  the  meal  was  finished  and  Enoch  and  Diana  were 
standing  before  the  fire,  debating  the  feasibility  of  a  walk 
under  the  pines,  Jonas  and  Na-che  approached  them  sol 
emnly. 

Jonas  cleared  his  throat.  "  Boss  and  Miss  Diana,  Na- 
che  and  me,  we  want  you  to  do  something  for  us.  We 
know  you  all  trust  us  both  and  so  we  don't  want  you  to 
ask  the  why  or  the  wherefore,  but  just  go  ahead  and  do 
it." 

"  What  is  it,  Jonas?  "  asked  Diana. 

"  Well,  up  ahead  a  spell  in  these  woods,  there's  a  round 
open  space  and  in  the  middle  of  it  under  a  big  rock  an 
Injun  and  his  sweetheart  is  buried.  Something  like  a 
million  years  ago  he  stole  her  from  over  yonder  from 
the  — "  he  hesitated,  and  Na-che  said  softly  : 

"  Hopis." 

"  Yes,  the  Hopis.  And  her  tribe  come  lickety-cut 
after  her,  and  overtook  'em  at  that  spot  yonder,  and  her 
father  give  her  the  choice  of  coming  back  or  both  of  'em 
dying  right  there.  They  chose  to  die,  and  there  they 
are.  Wee-tali  and  Na-che  and  all  the  Injuns  believe  — " 
Na-che  pulled  at  his  sleeve. 

"  Oh,  I  forgot !  We  ain't  going  to  tell  you  what  they 
believe,  because  whites  don't  never  have  the  right  kind 
of  faith.  Let  me  alone,  Na-che.  How  come  you  think 
I  can't  tell  this  story?  But  what  we  ask  of  you  is,  will 
you  and  Miss  Allen,  boss,  go  up  to  that  stone  yonder, 
and  lay  this  eagle's  feather  beside  it,  then  sit  on  the  stone 
until  a  star  falls." 

Enoch  and  Diana  looked  at  each  other,  half  smiling. 
"  Don't  say  no,"  urged  Na-che.  "  You  want  to  take  a 
walk,  anyhow." 

"And  what  happens,  if  the  star  falls?"  asked  Diana. 

"  Something  mighty  good,"  replied  Jonas. 


280         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  It's  pretty  cold  for  sitting  still  so  long,  isn't  it, 
Jonas  ?  "  asked  Enoch. 

"  You  can  take  a  blanket  to  wrap  round  yourselves. 
Do  it,  boss!  You  know  you  and  Miss  Diana  don't  care 
where  you  are  as  long  as  you  get  a  little  time  alone  to 
gether." 

Enoch  laughed.  "  Come  along,  Diana !  Who  knows 
what  Indian  magic  might  do  for  us!  " 

"  That's  right,"  Na/-che  nodded  approval.  "  There's 
an  old  trail  to  it,  see !  "  she  led  Diana  beyond  the  camp 
pine,  and  pointed  to  the  faint  black  line,  that  was  trace 
able  in  the  sand  under  the  trees.  The  pine  forest  was 
absolutely  clear  of  undergrowth. 

"  Come  on,  Enoch,"  laughed  Diana,  and  Enoch,  chuc 
kling,  joined  her,  while  the  two  magicians  stood  by  the 
fire,  interest  and  satisfaction  showing  in  every  line  of 
their  faces. 

Diana  had  little  difficulty  following  the  trail.  To 
Enoch's  unaccustomed  eyes  and  feet,  the  ease  with  which 
she  led  the  way  was  astonishing.  She  walked  swiftly 
under  the  trees  for  ten  minutes,  then  paused  on  the  edge 
of  a  wide  amphitheater,  rich  in  starlight.  In  the  center 
lay  a  huge  flat  stone.  They  made  their  way  through 
the  sand  to  this.  Dimly  they  could  discern  that  the  sides 
of  the  rock  were  covered  with  hieroglyphics.  Diana  laid 
the  eagle's  feather  in  a  crevice  at  the  end  of  the  rock. 

"  See !  "  exclaimed  Enoch.  "  Other  lovers  have  been 
here  before!  "  He  pointed  to  feathers  at  different  points 
in  the  rock.  "  It  must  indeed  be  strong  magic !  " 

He  folded  one  blanket  for  a  seat,  another  he  pulled 
over  their  shoulders,  for  in  spite  of  the  brisk  walk,  they 
both  were  shivering  with  the  cold. 

"  What  do  you  suppose  the  world  at  large  would  say," 
chuckled  Diana,  "  if  it  would  see  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  at  this  moment." 

"  I  think  it  would  say  that  as  a  human  being,  it  was 
beginning  to  have  hope  of  him,"  replied  Enoch. 

Then  they  fell  silent.  The  great  trees  that  widely  en 
circled  them  were  motionless.  The  heavens  seemed  made 


LOVE  IN  THE  DESERT  281 

of  stars.  Enoch  drew  Diana  close  against  him,  and 
leaned  his  cheek  upon  her  hair.  Slowly  a  jack  rabbit 
loped  toward  the  ancient  grave,  stopped  to  gaze  with 
burning  eyes  at  the  two  motionless  figures,  twitched  his 
ears  and  slowly  hopped  away.  Shortly  a  cottontail  de 
liberately  crossed  the  circle,  then  another  and  another. 
Suddenly  Diana  touched  Enoch's  hand  softly. 

"  In  the  trees,  opposite!  "  she  breathed. 

Two  pairs  of  fiery  eyes  moved  slowly  out  until  the 
starlight  revealed  two  tiny  antelope,  gray,  graceful  shad 
ows  of  the  desert  night.  The  pair  stared  motionless  at 
the  ancient  grave,  then  gently  trotted  away.  Now  came 
a  long  interval  in  which  neither  sound  nor  motion  was 
perceptible  in  the  silvery  dusk.  Then  like  little  gray 
ghosts  with  glowing  eyes  half  a  dozen  antelope  moved 
tranquilly  across  the  amphitheater.  Enoch  and  Diana 
watched  breathlessly  but  for  many  moments  more  there 
was  no  sign  of  living  creature.  And  suddenly  a  great 
star  flashed  across  the  radiant  heavens. 

'  The  magic !  "  whispered  Diana,  "  the  desert  magic !  " 

"  Diana,"  murmured  Enoch  in  reply,  "  this  is  as  near 
heaven  as  mortals  may  hope  to  reach." 

"Desert  magic!"  repeated  Diana  softly.  "Come, 
dear,  we  must  go  back  to  camp." 

Enoch  rose  reluctantly  and  put  his  hands  on  Diana's 
shoulders.  "  Those  lovers,  long  ago,"  he  said,  his  deep 
voice  tender  and  wistful,  "  those  lovers  long  ago  were 
not  far  wrong  in  their  decision.  I'm  sure,  in  the  years 
to  come,  when  I  think  of  this  evening,  and  this  journey, 
I  shall  feel  so." 

Diana  touched  his  cheek  softly  with  her  hand.  "  I 
love  you,  Enoch,"  was  all  she  said,  and  they  returned  in 
silence  to  the  camp. 

"  We  saw  the  star  fall !  "  exclaimed  Jonas,  waiting  by 
the  fire  with  Na-che. 

Enoch  nodded  and,  after  a  glance  at  his  face,  Jonas 
said  nothing  more. 

All  the  next  day  they  penetrated  deeper  and  deeper 
into  the  mighty  forest.  All  day  long  the  trail  lifted 


282         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

gradually,  the  air  growing  rarer  and  colder  as  they  went. 

It  was  biting  cold  when  they  made  their  night  camp 
deep  in  the  woods.  But  a  glorious  fire  before  a  giant 
tree  trunk  made  the  last  evening  on  the  trail  one  of  com 
fort.  Na-che  and  Jonas  had  run  out  of  excuses  for  leav 
ing  the  lovers  alone,  but  nothing  daunted,  after  supper 
was  cleared  off  they  made  their  own  camp  fire  at  a  dis 
tance  and  sat  before  it,  singing  and  laughing  even  after 
Diana  had  withdrawn  to  her  tent. 

"  Enoch,"  said  Diana,  "  I  have  something  that  I  want 
to  say  to  you,  but  I'll  admit  that  it  takes  more  courage 
than  I've  been  able  to  gather  together  until  now.  But 
this  is  our  last  evening  and  I  must  relieve  my  mind." 

Enoch,  surprised  by  the  earnestness  of  Diana's  voice, 
laid  down  his  pipe  and  put  his  hand  over  hers.  "  I  don't 
see  why  you  need  courage  to  say  anything  under  heaven 
to  me !  " 

"  But  I  do  on  this  subject,"  returned  Diana,  raising 
wide,  troubled  eyes  to  his.  "  Enoch,  you  have  made  me 
love  you  and  then  have  told  me  that  you  cannot  marry  me. 
I  think  that  I  have  the  right  to  tell  you  that  you  are 
abnormal  toward  marriage.  You  are  spoiling  our  two 
lives  and  I  am  entering  a  most  solemn  protest  against  your 
doing  so." 

"  But,  Diana  — "  began  Enoch. 

"No!"  interrupted  Diana.  "You  must  hear  me 
through  in  silence,  Enoch.  I  remember  my  father  tell 
ing  me  that  Seaton  believed  that  you  had  been  made  the 
victim  of  almost  hypnotic  suggestion  by  that  beast,  Luigi. 
Not  that  Luigi  knew  anything  about  auto-suggestion  or 
anything  of  the  sort!  He  simply  wanted  to  enslave  a 
boy  who  was  a  clever  gambler.  And  so  he  planted  the 
vicious  suggestion  in  your  mind  that  you  were  necessarily 
bad  because  your  mother  was.  And  all  these  years,  that 
suggestion  has  held,  not  to  make  you  bad  but  to  make 
you  fear  that  your  children  would  lie  or  that  disease, 
mental  or  physical,  is  latent  in  you  which  marriage  would 
uncover.  Enoch,  have  you  never  talked  your  case  over 
with  a  psychologist?  " 


LOVE  IN  THE  DESERT  283 

"No!"  replied  Enoch.  "I've  always  felt  that  I  was 
perfectly  normal  and  I  still  feel  so.  Moreover,  I've 
wanted  to  bury  my  mother's  history  a  thousand  fathoms 
deep.  Consider  too,  that  I've  never  wanted  to  marry 
any  woman  till  I  met  you." 

"  And  having  met  me,"  said  Diana  bitterly,  "  you  allow 
a  preconceived  idea  to  wreck  us  both.  You  astonish 
me  almost  as  much  as  you  make  me  suffer.  Enoch,  did 
you  ever  try  to  trace  your  father?  " 

"  Diana,  what  chance  would  I  have  of  finding  my  fa 
ther  when  you  consider  what  my  mother  was  ?  Neverthe 
less,  I  have  tried."  And  Enoch  told  in  detail  both 
Seaton's  and  the  Police  Commissioner's  efforts  in  his 
behalf. 

Diana  rose  and  paced  restlessly  up  and  down  before 
the  fire.  Enoch  rose  with  her  and  stood  leaning  against 
the  tree  trunk,  watching  her  with  tragic  eyes.  Finally 
Diana  said : 

"  I'm  not  clever  at  argument,  but  every  woman  has  a 
right  to  fight  for  her  mate.  I  insist  that  your  reasons 
for  not  marrying  are  chimeras.  And  if  I'm  willing  to 
risk  marrying  the  man  who  may  or  may  not  be  the  son 
of  Luigi's  mistress,  he  should  be  willing  to  risk  marry 
ing  me." 

"  But,  you  see,  you  do  admit  it's  a  risk!"  exclaimed 
Enoch. 

"  No  more  a  risk  than  marriage  always  is,"  declared 
Diana,  with  a  smile  that  had  no  humor  in  it.  "  Enoch, 
let's  not  be  cowardly.  Let's  '  set  the  slug  horn  dauntless 
to  our  lips.'  ' 

Enoch  covered  his  eyes  with  his  hands.  Cold  sweat 
stood  on  his  brow.  All  the  ugly,  menacing  suggestions 
of  thirty  years  crowded  his  answer  to  his  lips. 

"  Diana,  we  must  not!  "  he  groaned. 

Diana  drew  a  quick  breath,  then  said,  "  Enoch,  I  can 
not  submit  tamely  to  such  a  decision.  I  have  a  friend  in 
Boston  who  is  one  of  the  great  psycho-analysts  of  the 
country.  When  I  return  to  "Washington  in  the  spring 
I  shall  go  to  see  him." 


284         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  God !  Shall  I  never  be  able  to  bury  Minetta  Lane?  " 
cried  Enoch, 

"Not  until  you  dig  the  grave  yourself,  my  dear! 
Yours  has  been  a  case  for  a  mind  specialist,  all  these  years, 
not  a  detective.  I,  for  one,  refuse  to  let  Minetta  Lane 
hag  ride  me  if  it  is  possible  to  escape  it."  Suddenly  she 
smiled  again.  "  I'll  admit  I'm  not  at  all  Victorian  in 
my  attitude." 

"  You  couldn't  be  anything  that  was  not  fine,"  re 
turned  Enoch  sadly.  "  But  I  cannot  bear  to  have  you 
buoy  yourself  with  false  hopes." 

"  A  drowning  woman  grasps  at  straws,  I  suppose," 
said  Diana,  a  little  brokenly.  "  Good  night,  my  dear 
est,"  and  Diana  went  into  the  tent,  leaving  Enoch  to 
ponder  heavily  over  the  fire  until  the  cold  drove  him  to 
his  blankets. 

Breaking  camp  the  next  morning  was  dreary  and 
arduous  enough.  Snow  was  still  falling,  the  mules  were 
recalcitrant  and  a  bitter  wind  had  piled  drifts  in  every 
direction.  The  four  travelers  were  in  a  subdued  mood, 
although  Enoch  heartened  himself  considerably  by  urg 
ing  Diana  to  remember  that  they  had  still  to  look  forward 
to  the  trip  down  Bright  Angel. 

They  floundered  through  the  snow  for  two  heavy  hours 
before  Diana  looked  back  at  Enoch  to  say, 

"  We're  only  a  mile  from  the  cabin  now,  Enoch !  " 

"  Only  a  mile!  "  exclaimed  Enoch.  "  Diana,  I  wonder 
what  your  father  will  say  when  he  sees  me !  " 

"  He  thinks  you  are  two  thousand  miles  from  here!  " 
laughed  Diana.  "  We'll  see  what  he  will  say." 

"  And  so,"  murmured  Enoch  to  himself,  "  my  perfect 
journey  is  ended." 


BOOK  IV 
THE  PHANTASM  DESTROYED 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE   FIRING   LINE   AGAIN 

"  When  I  shall  have  given  you  up,  Diana,  I  shall  love 
my  own  solitude  as  never  before.  For  you  will  dwell 
there  and  he  who  has  lovely  thoughts  is  never  lonely." 

—  Enoch's  Diary. 

THE  cabin  was  built  of  cedar  logs.  Frank  had  added 
to  it  as  necessity  arose  or  his  means  permitted,  and 
it  sprawled  pleasantly  under  the  pines,  as  if  it  belonged 
there  and  enjoyed  being  there.  Na-che  gave  her  pecul 
iar,  far-carrying  call,  some  moments  before  the  cabin 
came  into  view,  and  when  the  little  cavalcade  jingled  up 
to  the  door,  it  was  wide  open,  a  ruddy  faced,  white- 
haired  man  standing  before  it. 

"  Hello,  Diana !  "  he  shouted.  "  Where  in  seven  thun 
ders  have  you  been !  You're  a  week  late !  " 

Then  his  eyes  fastened  wonderingly  on  Enoch's  face. 
He  came  slowly  across  the  porch  and  down  the  steps. 
Enoch  did  not  speak,  and  for  a  long  moment  the  two  men 
stared  at  each  other  while  time  turned  back  its  hands  for 
a  quarter  of  a  century.  Suddenly  Frank's  hand  shot  out. 

"  My  God !     It's  Enoch  Huntingdon !  " 

"  Yes,  Frank,  it's  he,"  replied  Enoch. 

"  Where  on  earth  did  you  come  from?  Come  in,  Mr. 
Secretary !  Come  in !  Or  do  you  want  to  go  up  to  the 
hotel?" 

"  Hotel !  Frank,  don't  try  to  put  on  dog  with  me  or 
snub  me  either !  "  exclaimed  Enoch,  dismounting.  "  And 
I  am  Enoch  to  you,  just  as  that  cowardly  kid  was,  twenty- 
two  years  ago !  " 

"  Cowardly !  "  roared  Frank.  "  Well,  come  in !  Come 
in  before  I  get  started  on  that." 

"  This  is  Jonas,"  said  Na-che  gravely. 

287 


288         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  I  know  who  Jonas  is,"  said  Frank,  shaking  hands, 
"  Come  in !  Come  in !  Before  I  burst  with  curiosity ! 
Diana  girl,  I've  been  worried  sick  about  you.  I  swear 
once  more  this  is  the  last  trip  you  shall  take  without  me." 

The  living-room  was  huge  and  beautiful.  A  fire  roared 
in  the  great  fireplace.  Indian  blankets  and  rugs  covered 
the  floor.  There  were  some  fine  paintings  on  the  wall-s 
and  books  and  photographs  everywhere.  After  Enoch 
and  Diana  had  removed  their  snowy  coats,  Frank  impa 
tiently  forced  them  into  the  arm-chairs  before  the  fire, 
while  he  stood  on  the  bearskin  before  them. 

"  For  the  love  of  heaven,  Diana,  where  did  you  folks 
meet?" 

"  You  begin,  Enoch,"  said  Diana  quietly. 

At  the  use  of  the  Secretary's  name,  Frank  glanced  at 
Diana  quickly,  then  turned  back  to  Enoch. 

"  Well,  Frank,  I  was  on  a  speaking  trip,  and  the  pres 
sure  of  things  got  so  bad  that  I  decided  to  slip  away 
from  everybody  and  give  myself  a  trip  to  the  Canyon. 
That  was  about  a  month  ago.  I  outfitted  at  a  little  vil 
lage  on  the  railroad,  and  shortly  after  that  I  joined  some 
miners  who  were  going  up  to  the  Canyon  to  placer  pros 
pect.  We  had  been  at  the  Canyon  several  days  when 
Jonas  and  Diana  and  Na-che  found  us.  Diana  stayed  a 
day  or  so,  then  Jonas  and  I  went  with  a  Geological  Sur 
vey  crew  for  a  boating  trip  down  the  river.  We  had 
sundry  adventures,  finally  landing  at  Grant's  Ferry,  our 
leader,  Milton,  with  a  broken  leg.  Here  we  found  Diana 
and  Na-che.  Jonas  and  I  left  the  others  and  came  on 
here  because  I  want  to  go  down  the  trail  with  you.  That, 
in  brief,  is  my  story." 

"  Devilish  brief !  "  snorted  Frank.  "  Thank  you  for 
nothing!  Diana,  suppose  you  pad  the  skeleton  a  little." 

"  Yes,  I  will,  Dad,  if  you'll  let  Enoch  go  to  his  room 
and  get  into  some  dry  clothes.  I  told  Na-che  to  help  her 
self  for  him  from  your  supply." 

"  Surely !  Surely !  What  a  rough  bronco,  I  am  !  Let 
me  show  you  to  the  guest  room,  Mr.  Secretary  —  Enoch, 
I  should  say,"  and  Frank  led  the  way  to  a  comfortable 


THE  FIRING  LINE  AGAIN  289 

room  whose  windows  gave  a  distant  view  of  the  Canyon 
rim. 

When  Enoch  returned  to  the  living-room  after  a  bath 
and  some  strenuous  grooming  at  Jonas'  hands,  Diana  had 
disappeared  and  Frank  was  standing  before  the  fire, 
smoking  a  cigarette.  He  tossed  it  into  the  flames  at 
Enoch's  approach. 

"  Enoch,  my  boy!  "  he  said,  then  his  voice  broke,  and 
the  two  men  stood  silently  grasping  each  other's  hands. 

Enoch  was  the  first  to  find  his  voice.  "  Except  for  the 
white  hair,  Frank,  the  years  have  forgotten  you." 

"  Not  quite,  Enoch !  Not  quite !  I  don't  take  those 
trails  as  easily  as  I  did  once.  You,  yourself  are  changed, 
but  one  would  expect  that !  Fourteen  to  thirty-six,  isn't 
it?_" 

Enoch  nodded.  "  Will  the  snow  make  Bright  Angel 
too  difficult  for  you,  Frank?  " 

"Me?  My  Lord,  no!  Do  I  look  a  tenderfoot? 
We'll  start  to-morrow  morning  and  take  two  days  to  it. 
Sit  down,  do!  I've  a  thousand  questions  to  ask  you." 

"  Before  I  begin  to  answer  them,  Frank,  tell  me  if 
there  is  any  way  in  which  I  can  send  a  telegram.  I  must 
let  my  office  know  where  I  am,  much  as  I  regret  the 
necessity." 

"  You  can  telephone  a  message  to  the  hotel,"  replied 
Frank.  "  They'll  take  care  of  it.  But  you  realize  that 
your  traveling  incog,  will  be  all  out  if  you  do  that?  " 

"  Not  necessarily!  "  Enoch  chuckled. 

Frank  called  the  hotel  on  the  telephone  and  handed  the 
instrument  to  Enoch,  who  smiled  as  he  gave  the  message. 

"  Mr.  Charles  Abbott,  8946  Blank  Street,  Washington, 
D.  C.  The  boss  can  be  reached  now  at  El  Tovar, 
Jonas." 

"But  won't  Abbott  wire  you?"  asked  Frank. 

"  No,  he'll  wire  Jonas.  See  if  he  doesn't,"  replied 
Enoch.  "  And  now  for  the  questions.  Oh,  Diana !  " 
rising  as  Diana,  in  a  brown  silk  house  frock,  came  into 
the  room.  "  How  lovely  you  look !  Doesn't  she, 
Frank?" 


290          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  She  looks  like  her  mother,"  said  Frank.  "  Only  she'll 
never  be  quite  as  beautiful  as  Helen  was." 

"  '  Whose  beauty  launched  a  thousand  ships  ' !  "  Enoch 
exclaimed,  smiling  at  Diana.  "  My  boyish  memory  of 
Mrs.  Allen  is  that  she  was  dark." 

"  She  was  darker  than  Diana,  and  not  so  tall.  Just 
as  high  as  my  breast ;  a  fine  mind  in  a  lovely  body !  " 
Frank  sighed  deeply  and  stared  at  the  fire. 

Enoch,  lying  back  in  the  great  arm-chair,  watched 
Diana  with  thoughtful,  wistful  eyes,  until  Frank  roused 
himself,  saying  abruptly,  "  And  now  once  more  for  the 
questions.  Enoch,  what  started  you  in  politics?" 

"  Well,"  replied  Enoch,  "  that's  a  large  order,  but  I'll 
try  to  tell  the  story."  He  began  the  tale,  but  was  so  con 
stantly  interrupted  by  Frank's  questions  that  luncheon 
was  announced  by  Na-che,  just  as  he  finished. 

After  luncheon  they  returned  again  to  the  fire,  and 
Frank,  urged  on  by  Enoch,  told  the  story  of  his  early 
days  at  the  Canyon.  Perhaps  Frank  guessed  that  Enoch 
and  Diana  were  in  no  mood  for  speech  themselves,  for 
he  talked  on  and  on,  interrupted  only  by  Enoch's  laugh 
ter,  or  quick  word  of  sympathy.  Diana,  her  hands 
clasped  loosely  in  her  lap,  watched  the  fire  or  stared  at 
the  snow  drifts  that  the  wind  was  piling  against  the 
window.  It  seemed  to  Enoch  that  the  shadows  about 
her  great  eyes  were  deepening  as  the  hours  went  on. 

Suddenly  Frank  looked  at  his  watch.  "  Four  o'clock ! 
I  must  go  out  to  the  corral.  Want  to  come  along, 
Enoch?" 

"  I  think  not,  Frank.  I'll  sit  here  with  Diana,  if  you 
don't  mind." 

"  I  can  stand  it,  if  Diana  can,"  chuckled  Frank,  and  a 
moment  later  a  door  slammed  after  him. 

Enoch  turned  at  once  to  Diana.  "  Are  you  happy, 
dear?" 

"  Happy  and  unhappy ;  unbearably  so !  "  replied  Diana. 

"  Don't  forget  for  a  moment,"  said  Enoch  quickly, 
"  that  we  have  two  whole  days  after  to-day." 

"  I  don't,"  Diana  smiled  a  little  uncertainly.     "  Enoch, 


THE  FIRING  LINE  AGAIN  291 

I  wonder  if  you  know  how  well  you  look!  You  are  so 
tanned  and  so  clear-eyed !  I'm  going  to  be  jealous  of 
the  women  at  every  dinner  party  I  imagine  you  attend 
ing!  " 

Enoch  laughed.  "  Diana,  my  reputation  as  a  woman 
hater  is  going  to  be  increased  every  year.  See  if  it's 
not!" 

The  telephone  rang  and  Diana  answered  the  call. 

"  Yes !  Yes,  Jonas  is  here,  Fred  Jonas  —  I'll  take  the 
message."  There  was  a  pause,  then  Diana  said  steadily, 
"  See  if  I  repeat  correctly.  Tell  the  Boss  the  President 
wishes  him  to  take  first  train  East,  making  all  possible 
speed.  Wire  at  once  date  of  arrival.  Signed  Abbott." 

Diana  hung  up  the  receiver  and  turned  to  Enoch,  who 
had  risen  and  was  standing  beside  her. 

"  Orders,  eh,  Enoch  ?  "  she  said,  trying  to  smile  with 
white  lips. 

Enoch  did  not  answer.  He  stood  staring  at  the  girl's 
quivering  mouth,  while  his  own  lips  stiffened.  Then  he 
said  quietly :  "  Will  you  tell  me  where  I  can  find  Jonas, 
Diana?" 

"  He's  in  the  kitchen  with  Na-che.  I'll  go  bring  him 
in." 

"  No,  stay  here,  Diana,  sweetheart.  Your  face  tells 
too  much.  I'll  be  back  in  a  moment." 

Jonas  looked  up  from  the  potatoes  he  was  peeling,  as 
Enoch  came  into  the  kitchen.  "  Jonas,  I've  just  had  a 
reply  from  the  wire  I  sent  Abbott  this  morning.  The 
President  wants  me  at  once.  Will  you  go  up  to  the 
hotel  and  arrange  for  transportation  out  of  here  to 
night?  Remember,  I  don't  want  it  known  who  I  am." 

"  Yes,  Mr.  Secretary !  "  exclaimed  Jonas.  Hastily 
wiping  his  hands,  he  murmured  to  Na-che,  as  Enoch 
turned  away :  "  No  trip  down  Bright  Angel,  Na-che. 
Ain't  it  a  shame  to  think  that  love  ring  — "  But  Enoch 
heard  no  more. 

Diana  stood  before  the  fire  in  the  gathering  twilight. 
"  Is  there  anything  Dad  or  I  can  do  to  facilitate  your 
start,  Enoch?'" 


292          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  Nothing,  Diana.  Jonas  is  a  past  master  in  this  sort 
of  thing,  and  he  prefers  to  do  it  all  himself.  You  and 
I  have  only  to  think  of  each  other  until  I  have  to  leave." 

He  took  Diana's  face  between  his  hands  and  gazed  at 
it  hungrily.  "  How  beautiful,  how  beautiful  you  are!  " 
he  said,  his  rich  voice  dying  in  a  sigh. 

"  Don't  sigh,  Enoch!  "  exclaimed  Diana.  "  We  must 
not  make  this  last  moment  sad.  You  are  going  back 
into  the  arena,  fit  for  the  fight.  That  makes  me  very, 
very  glad.  And  while  you  have  told  me  nothing  as  to 
your  intentions  concerning  Brown,  I  know  that  your  de 
cision,  when  it  comes,  will  be  right." 

"  I  don't  know  what  that  decision  will  be,  Diana.  I 
have  given  my  whole  mind  to  you  for  many  days.  But 
I  shall  do  nothing  rash,  nor  without  long  thought.  My 
dearest,  I  wish  I  could  make  you  understand  what  you 
mean  to  me.  I  had  thought  when  we  were  in  the  Canyon 
to-morrow  I  could  tell  you  something  of  my  boyhood, 
so  that  you  would  understand  me,  and  what  you  mean  to 
me.  But  all  that  must  remain  unsaid.  Perhaps  it's  just 
as  well" 

Enoch  sighed  again  and,  turning  to  the  table,  picked 
up  the  flat  package  he  had  laid  there  on  entering  the  room. 

"  This  is  my  diary,  Diana,"  placing  it  in  her  hands. 
"  Be  as  gentle  as  you  can  in  judging  me,  as  you  read  it. 
If  we  were  to  be  married,  I  think  I  would  not  have  let 
you  see  it,  but  as  it  is,  I  am  giving  to  you  the  most  inti 
mate  thing  in  my  possession,  and  I  feel  somehow  as  if  in 
so  doing  I  am  tying  myself  to  you  forever." 

Diana  clasped  the  book  to  her  heart,  and  laid  her  burn 
ing  cheek  against  Enoch's.  But  she  did  not  speak. 
Enoch  held  her  slender  body  against  his  and  the  fire- 
light  flickered  on  the  two  motionless  forms. 

"  Diana,"  said  Enoch  huskily,  "  you  are  going  on  with 
your  work,  as  earnestly  as  ever,  are  you  not?  " 

"  Not  quite  so  earnestly  because,  after  I  reach  the  East 
again,  Minetta  Lane  will  be  my  job." 

"  Oh,  Diana,  I  beg  of  you,  don't  soil  your  hands  with 
that !  "  groaned  Enoch. 


THE  FIRING  LINE  AGAIN  293 

"  I  must !  I  must,  Enoch !  "  Then  Diana's  voice 
broke  and  again  the  room  was  silent.  They  stood  cling 
ing  to  each  other  until  Frank's  voice  was  heard  in  the 
rear  of  the  house. 

"  It's  an  infernal  shame,  I  say,  President  or  no  Presi 
dent!" 

"  I'm  going  to  my  room  for  a  little  while,"  whispered 
Diana.  And  when  Frank  stamped  into  the  room,  Enoch 
was  standing  alone,  his  great  head  bowed  in  the  fire 
light. 

"Can't  you  stall  'em  off  a  little  while?"  demanded 
Frank. 

Enoch  shook  his  head  with  a  smile.  "  I've  played 
truant  too  long  to  dictate  now.  Jonas  and  I  must  pull 
out  to-night.  Perhaps  it's  best,  after  all,  Frank,  and 
yet,  it  seemed  for  a  moment  as  if  it  were  physically  im 
possible  for  me  to  give  up  that  trip  down  Bright  Angel. 
I've  dreamed  of  it  for  twenty-two  years.  And  to  go 
down  with  Diana  and  you  — ' 

"  It's  life !  "  said  Frank  briefly.  He  sank  into  an  arm 
chair  and  neither  man  spoke  until  Na-che  announced 
supper. 

Diana  appeared  then,  her  cheeks  and  eyes  bright  and 
her  voice  steady.  Enoch  never  had  seen  her  in  a  more 
whimsical  mood  and  the  meal,  which  he  had  dreaded, 
passed  off  quickly  and  pleasantly. 

Not  long  after  dinner,  Frank  announced  the  buck-board 
ready  for  the  drive  to  the  station.  He  slammed  the  door 
after  this  announcement,  and  Enoch  took  Diana  in  his 
arms  and  kissed  her  passionately. 

"  Good-by,  Diana." 

"  Good-by,  Enoch !  "  and  the  last  golden  moment  was 
gone. 

Enoch  had  no  very  clear  recollection  of  his  farewells 
to  Na-che  and  Frank.  Outwardly  calm  and  collected, 
within  he  was  a  tempest.  He  obeyed  Jonas  automatically, 
went  to  his  berth  at  once,  and  toward  dawn  fell  asleep 
to  the  rumble  of  the  train.  The  trip  across  the  continent 
was  accomplished  without  untoward  incident.  Enoch 


294         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

was,  of  course,  recognized  by  the  trainmen,  but  he  kept 
to  the  stateroom  that  Jonas  had  procured  and  refused  to 
see  the  reporters  who  boarded  the  train  at  Kansas  City 
and  again  at  Chicago.  After  the  first  twenty-four  hours 
of  grief  over  the  parting  with  Diana,  Enoch  began  to 
recover  his  mental  poise.  He  was  able  to  crowd  back 
some  of  his  sorrow  and  to  begin  to  contemplate  his  whole 
adventure.  Nor  could  he  contemplate  it  without  begin 
ning  to  exult,  and  little  by  little  his  spirits  lifted  and 
even  the  tragedy  of  giving  up  Diana  became  a  sacred  and 
a  beautiful  thing.  His  grief  became  a  righteous  part  of 
his  life,  a  thing  he  would  not  give  up  any  more  than  he 
would  have  given  up  a  joy. 

Undoubtedly  Jonas  enjoyed  this  trip  more  than  any 
railway  journey  of  his  experience.  Certainly  he  was  a 
marked  man.  He  wore  the  broadest  brimmed  hat  in 
Frank  Allen's  collection,  and  John  Red  Sun's  high  laced 
boots.  Strapped  to  his  suitcase  were  the  Ida's  broken 
paddle  and  the  battered  board  with  "  a-che  "  on  it.  These 
stood  conspicuously  in  his  seat  in  the  Pullman,  where  he 
held  a  daily  reception  to  all  the  porters  on  the  train.  True 
to  his  orders,  he  never  mentioned  Enoch's  name  in  con 
nection  with  his  tale  of  the  Canyon,  but  his  own  adven 
tures  lost  nothing  by  that. 

Enoch  did  not  wire  the  exact  time  of  his  arrival  in 
Washington,  as  he  wished  no  one  to  meet  the  train.  It 
was  not  quite  three  o'clock  of  a  cold  December  day  when 
Charley  Abbott,  arranging  the  papers  in  Enoch's  private 
office,  looked  up  as  the  inner  door  opened.  Enoch,  tanned 
and  vigorous,  came  in,  followed  by  Jonas,  in  all  his  west 
ern  glory. 

Charley  sprang  forward  to  meet  Enoch's  extended 
hand.  "  Mr.  Huntingdon !  Thank  the  Lord !  " 

"All  set,  Abbott!"  exclaimed  Enoch,  "and  ready  to 
steam  ahead.  Let  me  introduce  old  Canyon  Bill,  formerly 
known  as  Jonas !  " 

Charley  clasped  Jonas'  hand,  burst  out  laughing,  and 
slapped  him  on  the  back.  "  Some  story  goes  with  that 
outfit,  eh,  Jonas,  old  boy!  Say!  if  you  let  the  rest  of 


THE  FIRING  LINE  AGAIN  295 

the  doormen  and  messengers  see  you,  there  won't  be  a 
stroke  of  work  done  for  the  rest  of  the  day." 

"  I'm  going  to  look  Harry  up,  right  now,  if  you  don't 
need  me,  boss !  "  exclaimed  Jonas. 

"  Take  the  rest  of  the  day,  Jonas !  " 

"No,  I'll  be  back  prompt  at  six,  boss!"  and  Jonas, 
with  his  luggage,  disappeared. 

Enoch  pulled  off  his  overcoat  and  seated  himself  at  the 
desk,  then  looked  up  at  Charley  with  a  smile. 

"  I  had  a  great  trip,  Abbott.  I  went  with  a  mining 
outfit  up  to  the  Canyon  country.  With  Miss  Allen's 
help,  Jonas  located  me  at  the  placer  mine,  and  after  sev 
eral  adventures,  we  came  back  with  her  to  El  Tovar, 
where  I  wired  you." 

Abbott  looked  at  Enoch  keenly.  "  You're  a  new  man, 
Mr.  Secretary." 

Enoch  nodded.  "  I'm  in  good  trim.  What  happens 
first,  Abbott?" 

"  I  didn't  know  what  time  you'd  be  in  to-day,  so  your 
appointments  don't  begin  until  to-morrow.  But  the  Pres 
ident  wants  you  to  call  him  at  your  earliest  convenience. 
Shall  I  get  in  touch  with  the  White  House?  " 

"If  you  please.  In  the  meantime,  I  may  as  well  begin 
to  go  through  these  letters." 

"  I  kept  them  down  pretty  well,  I  think,"  said  Abbott, 
with  justifiable  pride,  as  he  picked  up  the  telephone. 
After  s^.eral  moments  he  reported  that  the  President 
would  see  Enoch  at  five  o'clock. 

"  Very  well,"  Enoch  nodded.  "  Then  you'd  better  tell 
me  the  things  I  need  to  know." 

Abbott  went  into  the  outer  office  for  his  note  book  and, 
returning  with  it,  for  an  hour  he  reported  to  Enoch  on 
the  business  of  the  Department.  Enoch,  puffing  on  a 
cigar,  asked  questions  and  made  notes  himself.  When 
Charley  had  finished,  he  said  : 

"  Thank  you,  Abbott !  I  don't  see  but  what  I  could 
have  remained  away  indefinitely.  Matters  seem  in  ex 
cellent  shape." 

"  Not  everything,  Mr.   Secretary.     Your  oil  bill  has 


296         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

been  unaccountably  blocked  in  the  Senate.  The  inter 
vention  in  Mexico  talk  has  begun  again.  The  Geological 
Survey  is  in  a  mix-up  and  it  looks  as  if  a  scandal  were 
about  to  burst  on  poor  old  Cheney's  head.  I'm  afraid 
he's  outlived  his  usefulness  anyhow.  The  newspapers  in 
California  are  starting  a  new  states-rights  campaign  for 
water  power  control  and,  every  day  since  I've  returned. 
Secretary  Fowler's  office  has  called  and  asked  for  the 
date  of  your  return." 

"  Interested  in  me,  aren't  they ! "  smiled  Enoch. 
"  Why  is  the  President  in  such  a  hurry  to  see  me,  Ab 
bott?" 

"  I  don't  know,  sir.  I  promised  his  secretary  that  the 
moment  I  heard  from  you  I'd  send  such  a  message  as  I 
did  send  you." 

"  All  right,  Abbott,  I'll  start  along.  Don't  wait  or  let 
Jonas  wait  after  six.  I'll  go  directly  home  if  I'm  de 
tained  after  that." 

The  President  looked  at  Enoch  intently  as  he  crossed 
the  long  room. 

"  Wherever  you've  been,  Huntingdon,  it  has  done  you 
good." 

"  I  took  a  trip  through  the  Canyon  country,  Mr.  Presi 
dent.  I've  always  wanted  it." 

The  President  waited  as  if  he  expected  Enoch  to  say 
more,  but  the  younger  man  stood  silently  contemplating 
the  open  fire. 

"  How  about  this  tale  of  Brown's?  "  the  Chief  Execu 
tive  asked  finally.  "  I  dislike  mentioning  it  to  you,  Hun 
tingdon,  but  you  are  the  most  trusted  member  of  my  Cab 
inet,  and  you  have  issued  no  denial  to  a  very  nasty  scandal 
about  yourself." 

Enoch  turned  grave  eyes  toward  the  President.  "  I 
shall  issue  no  denial,  Mr.  President.  But  there  is  one 
man  in  the  world  I  wish  to  know  the  whole  truth.  II 
you  have  the  time,  sir,  will  you  permit  me  to  go  over 
the  whole  miserable  story  ?  " 

The  President  studied  the  Secretary's  face.     "  It  will 


THE  FIRING  LINE  AGAIN  297 

be  a  painful  thing  for  both  of  us,  Huntingdon,"  he  said 
after  a  moment,  "  but  for  the  sake  of  our  future  confi 
dential  relationship,  I  think  I  shall  have  to  ask  you  to  go 
over  it  with  me.  Sit  down,  won't  you?  " 

Enoch  shook  his  head  and,  standing  with  his  back  to 
the  fire,  his  burning  eyes  never  leaving  the  President's 
face,  he  told  the  story  of  Minetta  Lane.  He  ceased  only 
at  the  moment  when  he  dropped  off  the  train  into  the 
desert.  He  did  not  spare  himself.  And  yet  when  the 
quiet,  eloquent  voice  stopped,  there  were  tears  in  the 
President's  eyes.  He  made  no  comment  until  Enoch 
turned  to  the  fire,  then  he  said,  with  a  curious  smile : 

"  A  public  man  cannot  afford  private  vices." 

"  I  know  that  now,"  replied  Enoch.  "  You  may  have 
my  resignation  whenever  you  wish  it.  I  think  it  prob 
able  that  I'll  never  touch  a  card  again.  But  I  dare  not 
promise." 

"  I'm  told,"  said  the  Chief  Executive  drily,  "  that  you 
were  not  without  good  company  in  Blank  Street;  that  a 
certain  famous  person  from  the  British  Legation,  a  cer 
tain  Admiral  of  our  own  navy  and  an  Italian  prince  con 
tributed  their  share  to  the  entertainment." 

Enoch  flushed  slightly,  but  did  not  speak. 

"  I  don't  want  your  resignation,  Huntingdon.  It's  a 
most  unfortunate  affair,  but  we  cannot  afford  to  lose  yon. 
Brown  is  a  whelp,  also  he's  a  power  that  must  be  reck 
oned  with.  That  article  turned  Washington  over  for  a 
while.  The  talk  has  quieted  now.  It  was  the  gambling 
that  the  populace  rolled  under  its  tongue.  Only  he  and 
she  scandal  mongers  like  Brown  gave  any  but  a  pitying 
glance  at  the  other  story.  The  fears  that  I  have  about 
the  affair  are  first  as  to  its  reaction  on  you  and  second 
as  to  the  sort  of  capital  the  opposite  party  will  make  of 
it  I  think  you  let  it  hit  you  too  hard,  Huntingdon." 

Enoch  lifted  sad  eyes  to  the  chief  executive.  His  lips 
were  painfully  compressed  and  the  President  said,  husk- 
ily: 

"  I  know,  my  boy !     I  sensed  long  ago  that  you  were  a 


298         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

man  who  had  drunk  of  a  bitter  cup.  I  wish  I  could 
have  helped  you  bear  it !  "  There  was  silence  for  a  mo 
ment,  then  the  President  went  on : 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  to  Brown,  Huntingdon  ?  " 

"  I  haven't  decided  yet,"  replied  Enoch  slowly.  "  But 
I  shall  not  let  him  go  unpunished." 

The  President  shook  his  head  and  sighed.  "  You  must 
feel  that  way,  of  course,  but  before  we  talk  about  that 
let's  review  the  political  situation.  I'm  ending  my  sec 
ond  term.  For  years,  as  you  know,  a  large  portion  of 
the  party  has  had  its  eye  on  you  to  succeed  me.  In  fact, 
as  the  head  of  the  party,  I  may  modestly  claim  to  have 
been  your  first  endorser!  Long  ago  I  recognized  the 
fact  that  unless  youth  and  virility  and  sane  idealism  were 
injected  into  the  old  machine,  it  would  fall  apart  and 
radicalism  would  take  its  place." 

"  Or  Tammanyism  !  "  interjected  Enoch. 

"  They  are  equally  menacing  in  my  mind,"  said  the 
older  man.  "  As  you  know,  too,  Huntingdon,  there  has 
been  a  quiet  but  very  active  minority  very  much  against 
you.  They  have  spent  years  trying  to  get  something  on 
you,  and  they've  never  succeeded.  But  —  well,  you  un 
derstand  mob  psychology  better  than  I  do  —  if  Brown 
evolves  a  slogan,  a  clever  phrase,  built  about  your  gam 
bling  propensities,  it  will  damn  you  far  more  effectively 
than  if  he  had  proved  that  you  played  crooked  politics 
or  did  something  really  harmful  to  the  country." 

Enoch  nodded.  "  Whom  do  you  think  Brown  is  for, 
Mr.  President?  " 

"  Has  it  ever  occurred  to  you  that  Brown  often  picks 
up  Fowler's  policies  and  quietly  pushes  them?" 

Again  Enoch  nodded  and  the  President  went  on, 
"  Brown  never  actively  plays  Fowler's  game.  There's 
an  old  story  that  an  ancient  quarrel  separates  them.  But 
word  has  been  carefully  passed  about  that  there  is  to  be 
a  dinner  at  the  Willard  to-morrow  night,  of  the  nature 
of  a  love  feast,  at  which  Fowler  and  Brown  are  to  fall 
on  each  other's  necks  with  tears." 

Enoch  got  up  from  his  chair  and  prowled  about  the 


THE  FIRING  LINE  AGAIN  299 

great  room  restlessly,  then  he  stood  before  the  chief 
executive. 

"  Mr.  President,  why  shouldn't  Fowler  go  to  the  White 
House?  He's  a  brilliant  man.  He's  done  notable  serv 
ice  as  Secretary  of  State.  I  don't  think  the  cabinet  has 
contained  his  equal  for  twenty-five  years.  He  has  given 
our  diplomatic  service  a  distinction  in  Europe  that  it 
never  had  before.  He  has  a  good  following  in  the  party. 
Perhaps  the  best  of  the  old  conservatives  are  for  him.  I 
don't  like  his  attitude  on  the  Mexican  trouble  and  some 
times  I  have  felt  uneasy  as  to  his  entire  loyalty  to  you. 
Yet,  I  am  not  convinced  that  he  would  not  make  a  far 
more  able  chief  executive  than  I?" 

"  Suppose  that  he  openly  ties  to  Brown,  Huntingdon?  " 

"  In  that  case,"  replied  Enoch  slowly,  "  I  would  feel  in 
duty  bound  to  interfere." 

"And  if  you  do  interfere,"  persisted  the  President, 
"  you  realize  fully  that  it  will  be  a  nasty  fight?  " 

"  Perhaps  it  would  be!  "  Enoch's  lips  tightened  as  he 
shrugged  his  shoulders. 

The  President's  eyes  glowed  as  he  watched  the  grim 
lines  deepen  in  Enoch's  face.  Then  he  said,  "  Hunting 
don,  I'm  giving  a  dinner  to-morrow  night  too !  The  Brit 
ish  Ambassador  and  the  French  Ambassador  want  to  meet 
Senor  Juan  Cadiz.  Did  you  know  that  your  friend  Cadiz 
is  the  greatest  living  authority  on  Aztec  worship  and  a 
hectic  fan  for  bullfighting  as  a  national  sport?  My  little 
party  is  entirely  informal,  one  of  the  things  the  news 
papers  ordinarily  don't  comment  on.  You  know  I  insist 
on  my  right  to  cease  to  be  President  on  occasions  when 
I  can  arrange  for  three  or  four  real  people  to  meet  each 
other.  This  is  one  of  those  occasions.  You  are  to  come 
to  the  dinner  too,  Huntingdon.  And  if  the  conversation 
drifts  from  bullfighting  and  Aztec  gods  to  Mexico  and 
England's  and  France's  ideas  about  your  recent  speeches, 
I  shall  not  complain." 

"  Thank  you,  Mr.  President,"  said  Enoch. 

"  I  would  do  as  much  for  you  personally,  of  course," 
the  older  man  nodded,  as  he  rose,  "  but  in  this  instance, 


300         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

I'm  playing  politics  even  more  than  I'm  putting  my  hand 
on  your  shoulder.  It's  good  to  have  you  back,  Hunting 
don  !  Good  night !  "  and  a  few  minutes  later  Enoch  was 
out  on  the  snowy  street. 

It  was  after  six  and  he  went  directly  home.  He  spent 
the  evening  going  over  accumulated  reports.  At  ten 
o'clock  Jonas  came  to  the  library  door. 

"  Boss,  how  would  you  feel  about  going  to  bed?  You 
know  we  got  into  early  hours  in  the  Canyon." 

"  I  feel  that  I'm  going  immediately !  "  Enoch  laughed. 
"  Jonas,  what  have  your  friends  to  say  about  your  trip?  " 
as  he  went  slowly  up  the  stairs. 

"  Boss,  I'm  the  foremost  colored  man  in  Washington 
to-night.  I'm  invited  to  give  a  lecture  on  my  trip  in  the 
Baptist  Church.  They  offered  me  five  bones  for  it  and 
I  laughed  at  'em.  How  come  you  to  think,  I  asked  'em, 
that  money  could  make  me  talk  about  my  life  blood's 
escape.  No,  sir,  I  give  my  services  for  patriotism.  I 
can't  have  the  paddle  nor  the  name  board  framed  till  I've 
showed  'em  at  the  lecture.  I'm  requested  to  wear  my 
costume." 

"  Good  work,  Jonas !  Remember  one  thing,  though ! 
Leave  me  and  Miss  Diana  absolutely  out  of  the  story." 

Jonas  nodded.     "  I  understand,  Mr.  Secretary." 

When  Enoch  reached  his  office  the  next  morning  he 
said  to  Charley  Abbott:  "When  or  if  Secretary  Fow 
ler's  office  calls  with  the  usual  inquiry,  make  no  reply 
but  connect  whomever  calls  directly  with  me." 

Charley  grinned.  "  Very  well,  Mr.  Secretary.  Shall 
we  go  after  those  letters?  " 

"  Whenever  you  say  so.  You'd  better  make  an  ap 
pointment  as  soon  as  possible  with  Cheney.  He  — " 
The  telephone  interrupted  and  Abbott  took  the  call,  then 
silently  passed  the  instrument  to  Enoch. 

"  Yes,  this  is  the  Secretary's  office,"  said  Enoch. 
"  Who  is  wanted  ?  .  .  .  This  is  Mr.  Huntingdon  speak 
ing.  Please  connect  me  with  Mr.  Fowler.  .  .  .  Good 
morning,  Mr.  Fowler!  I'm  sorry  to  have  made  your 
^office  so  much  trouble.  I  understand  you've  been  calling 


THE  FIRING  LINE  AGAIN  301 

me  daily.  .  .  .  Oh,  yes,  I  thought  it  was  a  mistake.  .  .  . 
Late  this  afternoon,  at  the  French  Ambassador's?  Yes, 
I'll  look  you  up  there.  Good-by." 

Enoch  hung  up  the  receiver.  "  Was  I  to  go  to  tea  at 
Madame  Foret's  this  afternoon,  Abbott?  " 

"  Yes,  Mr.  Secretary.  Madame  Foret  called  me  up  a 
few  days  ago  and  was  so  kind  and  so  explicit  — " 

"  It's  quite  all  right,  Abbott.  Mr.  Fowler  wondered, 
he  said,  if  I  was  to  be  invited!  " 

The  two  men  looked  at  each  other,  then  without  fur 
ther  comment  Enoch  began  to  dictate  his  long-delayed  let 
ters.  The  day  was  hectic  but  Enoch  turned  off  his  work 
with  zest. 

Shortly  after  lunch  the  Director  of  the  Geological  Sur 
vey  appeared.  Enoch  greeted  him  cordially,  and  after  a 
few  generalities  said,  "  Mr.  Cheney,  what  bomb  are  they 
preparing  to  explode  now  ?  " 

Cheney  ran  his  fingers  through  his  white  hair  and 
sighed.  "  I  guess  I'm  getting  too  old  for  modern  poli 
tics,  Mr.  Secretary.  You'd  better  send  me  back  into  the 
field.  Neither  you  nor  I  knew  it,  but  it  seems  that  I've 
been  using  those  fellows  out  in  the  field  for  my  own 
personal  ends.  I  have  a  group  mining  for  me  in  the 
Grand  Canyon  and  another  group  locating  oil  fields  for 
me  in  Texas." 

Enoch  laughed,  then  said  seriously :  "  What's  the  idea, 
Mr.  Cheney?  Have  you  a  theory?" 

Cheney  shook  his  head.  "  Just  innate  deviltry,  I  sup 
pose,  on  the  part  of  Congress." 

"  You've  been  chief  of  the  Survey  fifteen  years,  haven't 
you,  Mr.  Cheney?  " 

"  Yes,  too  long  for  my  own  good.  Times  have 
changed.  People  realized  once  that  men  who  go  high  in 
the  technical  world  very  seldom  are  crooked.  But  your 
modern  politician  would  believe  evil  of  the  Almighty." 

"  What  sort  of  timber  are  you  developing  among  your 
field  men,  Cheney?" 

"  Only  so-so !  Young  men  aren't  what  they  were  in 
my  day." 


302         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

Enoch  eyed  the  tired  face  under  the  white  hair  sym 
pathetically.  "  Mr.  Cheney,  you're  letting  these  people 
get  under  your  skin.  And  that  is  exactly  what  they  are 
aiming  to  do.  You  aren't  the  man  you  were  a  few 
months  ago.  My  advice  to  you  is,  take  a  vacation. 
When  you  come  back  turn  over  the  field  work  to  a 
younger  man  and  devote  yourself  to  finding  who  is  after 
you  and  why.  I  have  an  idea  that  the  gang  is  not  in 
terested  in  you,  personally." 

Cheney  suddenly  sat  up  very  straight.  "  You  think 
that  you  — "  then  he  hesitated.  "  No,  Mr.  Secretary,  this 
is  a  young  man's  fight.  I'd  better  resign." 

"  Perhaps,  later  on,  but  not  now.  After  years  of  such 
honorable  service  as  yours,  go  because  you  have  reached 
the  fullness  of  years  and  have  earned  your  rest.  Don't 
let  these  fellows  smirch  your  name  and  the  name  of  the 
Service.  Clear  both  before  you  go." 

"What  do  I  care  for  what  they  say  of  me!"  cried 
Cheney  with  sudden  fire.  "  I  know  what  I've  given  to 
the  government  since  I  first  ran  surveys  in  Utah !  You're 
an  eastern  man  and  a  city  man,  Mr.  Secretary.  If  you 
had  any  idea  of  what  a  field  man,  in  Utah,  for  example, 
or  New  Mexico,  or  Arizona  endures,  of  the  love  he  has 
for  his  work,  you'd  see  why  my  pride  won't  let  me 
justify  my  existence  to  a  Congressional  Committee." 

"  And  yet,"  insisted  Enoch,  "  I  am  going  to  ask  you 
to  do  that  very  thing,  Mr.  Cheney.  I  am  asking  you  to 
do  it  not  for  me  or  for  yourself,  but  for  the  good  of  the 
Survey.  Find  out  who,  what  and  why.  And  tell  me. 
Will  you  do  it,  Mr.  Cheney?  " 

There  was  something  winning  as  well  as  compelling  in 
Enoch's  voice.  The  director  of  the  Survey  rose  slowly, 
and  with  a  half  smile  held  out  his  hand  to  the  Secretary. 

"  I'll  do  it,  Mr.  Secretary,  but  for  just  one  reason,  be 
cause  of  my  admiration  and  friendship  for  you." 

Enoch  smiled.  "  Not  the  best  of  reasons,  I'm  afraid, 
but  I'm  grateful  anyhow.  Will  you  let  me  know  facts 
as  you  turn  them  up?  " 


THE  FIRING  LINE  AGAIN  303 

Cheney  nodded.  "  Good  day,  Mr.  Secretary !  "  and 
Enoch  turned  to  meet  his  next  visitor. 

Shortly  before  six  o'clock  Enoch  shook  hands  with 
Madame  Foret  in  her  crowded  drawing-room.  He 
seemed  to  be  quite  unconscious  of  the  more  than  usually 
interested  and  inquiring  glances  that  were  directed  to 
ward  him. 

"  You  had  a  charming  vacation,  so  your  smile  says,  Mr. 
Huntingdon !  "  exclaimed  Madame  Foret.  "  I  am  so 
glad  !  Where  did  you  go?  " 

"  Into  the  desert,  Madame  Foret." 

"Oh,  into  the  desert  of  that  beautiful  Miss  Allen! 
She  and  her  pictures  together  made  me  feel  that  that 
was  one  part  of  America  I  must  not  miss.  She  prom 
ised  me  that  she  would  show  me  what  she  called  the 
Painted  Desert,  and  I  shall  hold  her  to  the  promise!  " 

"  No  one  could  show  you  quite  so  wonderfully  as  Miss 
Allen,  I'm  sure,"  said  Enoch. 

"  Now,  just  what  did  you  do  to  kill  time  in  the  desert, 
Huntingdon?  "  asked  Mr.  Johns-Eaton,  the  British  Am 
bassador.  "  Why  didn't  you  go  where  there  was  some 
real  sport?  " 

"Oh,  I  found  sport  of  a  sort!"  returned  Enoch  sol 
emnly. 

Johns-Eaton  gave  Enoch  a  keen  look.  "  I'll  wager 
you  did!  "  he  exclaimed.  "  Any  hunting?  " 

"  Some  small  game  and  a  great  deal  of  boating!  " 

"Boating!  Now  you  are  spoofing  me!  Listen,  Mr. 
Fowler,  here's  a  man  who  says  he  was  boating  in  the 
desert!" 

Fowler  and  Enoch  bowed  and,  after  a  moment's  more 
general  conversation,  they  drew  aside. 

"  About  this  Mexican  trouble,  Huntingdon,"  said  Fow 
ler  slowly.  "  I  said  nothing  as  to  your  speaking  trip, 
until  your  return,  for  various  reasons.  But  I  want  to 
tell  you  now,  that  I  considered  it  an  intrusion  upon  my 
prerogatives." 

"  Have  you  told  the  President  so?"  asked  Enoch. 


304         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  The  President  did  not  make  the  tour,"  replied  Fow 
ler. 

"  Just  why,"  Enoch  sipped  his  cup  of  tea  calmly,  "  did 
you  choose  this  occasion  to  tell  me  of  your  resentment?  " 

"  Because/'  replied  Fowler,  in  a  voice  tense  with  re 
pressed  anger,  "  it  is  my  express  purpose  never  to  set 
foot  in  your  office  again,  nor  to  permit  you  to  appear  in 
mine.  When  we  are  forced  to  meet,  we  will  meet  on 
neutral  ground." 

"  Well,"  said  Enoch  mildly,  "  that's  perfectly  agreeable 
to  me.  But,  excepting  on  cabinet  davs,  why  meet  at 
all?" 

"  You  are  agreed  that  it  shall  be  war  between  us, 
then?  "  demanded  Fowler  eagerly. 

"  Oh,  quite  so !  Only  not  exactly  the  kind  of  war  you 
think  it  will  be,  Mr.  Secretary!"  said  Enoch,  and  he 
walked  calmly  back  to  the  tea  table  for  his  second  cup. 

He  stayed  for  some  time  longer,  chatting  with  differ 
ent  people,  taking  his  leave  after  the  Secretary  of  State 
had  driven  away.  Then  he  went  home,  thoughtfully, 
to  prepare  for  the  President's  dinner. 

The  chief  executive  was  a  remarkable  host,  tactful, 
resourceful,  and  witty.  The  dinner  was  devoted  en 
tirely  at  first  to  Juan  Cadiz  and  his  wonderful  stories  of 
Aztec  gods  and  of  bullfighting.  Gradually,  however, 
Cadiz  turned  to  modern  conditions  in  Mexico,  and  Mr. 
Johns-Eaton,  with  sudden  fire,  spoke  of  England's  feel 
ing  about  the  chaos  that  reigned  beyond  the  Texan  border 
lines.  Monsieur  Foret  did  not  fully  agree  with  the  Eng 
lishman's  general  attitude,  but  when  Cadiz  quoted  from 
one  of  Enoch's  speeches,  the  ambassadors  united  in  praise 
of  the  sanity  of  Enoch's  arguments.  The  President  did 
not  commit  himself  in  any  way.  But  when  he  said  good 
night  to  Enoch,  he  added  in  the  hearing  of  the  others: 

"  Thank  you,  old  man !  I  wish  I  had  a  hundred  like 
you!" 

Enoch  walked  home  through  a  light  snow  that  was 
falling.  And  although  his  mind  grappled  during  the 
entire  walk  with  the  new  problem  at  hand,  he  was  con- 


THE  FIRING  LINE  AGAIN  305 

scious  every  moment  of  the  fact  that  a  week  before  he 
had  tramped  through  falling  snow  with  Diana  always 
within  hand  touch. 

Jonas,  brushing  the  snow  from  Enoch's  broad  shoul 
ders,  said  casually :  "  I  had  a  telegram  from  Na-che 
this  evening,  boss.  She  and  Miss  Diana  start  for  Hava- 
su  canyon  to-morrow." 

Enoch  started.  "  Why,  how'd  she  happen  to  wire 
you,  Jonas?  " 

"  I  done  told  her  to,"  replied  Jonas  coolly,  "  and  more 
over,  I  left  the  money  for  her  to  do  it  with." 

Enoch  said  nothing  until  he  was  standing  in  his  dress 
ing-gown  before  his  bedroom  fire.  Then  he  turned  to 
Jonas  and  said: 

"  Old  man,  it  won't  do.  I  can't  stand  it.  I  must  not 
be  able  to  follow  her  movements  or  I  shall  not  be  able 
to  keep  my  mind  on  matters  here.  I  shall  never  marry, 
Jonas.  All  the  charms  and  all  the  affectionate  desires  of 
you  and  Na-che  cannot  change  that." 

Jonas  gave  Enoch  a  long,  reproachful  look  that  was  at 
the  same  time  well-tinctured  with  obstinacy.  Without  a 
word  he  left  the  room. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
CURLY'S  REPORT 

"  And  now  my  house-mate  is  Grief.  But  she  is 
wise  and  beautiful  as  the  Canyon  is  wise  and  beautiful 
and  I  claim  both  as  my  own." 

—  Enoch's  Diary. 

THE  Washington  papers,  the  next  morning, 
tained  the  accounts  of  two  very  interesting  dinner 
parties.  One  was  a  detailed  story  of  the  President's 
dinner.  The  other  told  of  the  public  meeting  and  recon 
ciliation  of  Secretary  Fowler  and  Hancock  Brown.  The 
evening  papers  contained,  as  did  the  morning  editions  the 
day  following,  widely  varied  comment  on  the  two  epi 
sodes. 

Enoch  did  not  see  the  President  for  nearly  a  week 
after  the  dinner  party,  excepting  at  the  cabinet  meeting. 
Then,  in  response  to  a  telephone  call  one  evening,  he 
went  to  the  White  House  and  told  the  President  of  his 
break  with  Fowler. 

"  That  was  a  curious  thing  for  him  to  do,"  commented 
the  chief  executive.  "  It  looks  to  me  like  a  plain  case  of 
losing  his  temper." 

"  It  struck  me  so,"  agreed  Enoch. 

"  Do  you  think  that  he  had  anything  to  do  with  the 
publishing  of  that  canard  about  you,  Huntingdon?" 

"  I  would  not  be  surprised  if  he  had.  If  I  find  that 
he  was  mixed  up  in  it,  Mr.  President,  I  shall  have  to 
punish  him  as  well  as  Brown." 

"  Horsewhipping  is  what  Brown  deserves,"  growled 
the  President.  "  Huntingdon,  why  are  they  after 
Cheney?" 

"  I've  told  him  to  find  out,"  replied  Enoch.  "  I  want 
him  to  put  himself  in  the  position  of  being  able  to  give 
them  the  lie  direct,  and  then  resign." 

306 


CURLY'S  REPORT  307 

"Who  is  after  him?" 

"  I  believe,  if  we  can  probe  far  enough,  we'll  find  this 
same  Mexican  controversy  at  the  bottom  of  it.  Cheney 
has  been  immensely  interested  in  the  fuel  problem.  He's 
given  signal  help  to  the  Bureau  of  Mines." 

The  telephone  rang,  and  the  President  answered  it. 
He  returned  to  his  arm-chair  shortly,  with  a  curious 
smile  on  his  face. 

"  Secretary  Fowler  wants  to  see  me.  I  did  not  tell 
him  that  you  are  calling.  As  far  as  he  has  informed 
me,  you  and  he  are  still  on  a  friendly  basis.  He  will 
be  along  shortly,  and  I  shall  be  keenly  interested  in  ob 
serving  the  meeting." 

Enoch  smoked  his  cigar  in  silence  for  some  moments 
before  he  said,  with  a  chuckle : 

"  I  like  a  fight,  if  only  it's  in  the  open." 

"  So  do  I !  "  exclaimed  the  President. 

The  conversation  was  desultory  until  the  door  opened, 
admitting  the  Secretary  of  State.  He  gave  Enoch  a 
glance  and  greeted  the  chief  executive,  then  bowed  for 
mally  to  Enoch,  and  stood  waiting. 

"  Sit  down,  Fowler!  Try  one  of  those  cigars!  They 
haven't  killed  Huntingdon  yet." 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  Mr.  President,"  stiffly,  "  it  is 
quite  impossible  for  me  to  make  any  pretense  of  friend 
ship  for  the  present  Secretary  of  the  Interior." 

The  President  raised  his  eyebrows.  "  What's  the 
trouble,  Fowler  ?  " 

"  You  may  have  heard,"  Fowler's  voice  was  sardonic, 
"  that  your  Secretary  of  the  Interior  swung  around  the 
circle  on  a  speech-making  trip  this  fall !  " 

*'  I  heard  of  it,"  replied  the  chief  executive,  "  probably 
before  you  did,  because  I  asked  Mr.  Huntingdon  to  make 
the  trip." 

"  And  may  I  ask,  Mr.  President,  why  you  asked  this 
gentleman  to  interfere  with  my  prerogatives  ?  " 

"  Come  !  Come,  Fowler !  You  are  too  clever  a  man 
to  attempt  the  hoity-toity  manner  with  me!  You  un 
doubtedly  read  all  of  Huntingdon's  speeches  with  care, 


308         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

and  you  observed  that  his  entire  plea  was  for  the  states 
to  allow  the  Federal  Government  to  proceed  in  its  nor 
mal  function  of  developing  the  water  power  and  oil 
resources  of  this  country;  that  a  few  American  business 
men  should  not  be  permitted  to  hog  the  water  power  of 
the  state  for  private  gain,  nor  to  embroil  us  in  war  with 
Mexico  because  of  private  oil  holdings  there.  You  will 
recall  that  whatever  information  he  used,  he  procured 
himself  and,  before  using,  laid  it  in  your  hands.  You 
laughed  at  it.  You  will  recall  that  I  asked  you,  a  month 
before  Huntingdon  went  out,  if  you  would  not  swing 
round  the  circle,  and  you  begged  to  be  excused." 

Still  standing,  the  Secretary  of  State  bowed  and  said, 
"  Mr.  Huntingdon  has  too  distinguished  an  advocate  to 
permit  me  to  argue  the  matter  here." 

Enoch  spoke  suddenly.  "  Although  I'm  grateful  to 
the  President,  Mr.  Fowler,  I  need  no  advocate.  What 
in  thunder  are  you  angry  about?  If  you  and  I  are  to 
quarrel,  why  not  let  me  know  the  casus  belli! " 

"  I've  stated  my  grievance,"  said  Fowler  flatly. 

"  Your  new  attitude  toward  me  has  nothing  to  do,  I 
suppose,"  suggested  Enoch,  lighting  a  fresh  cigar,  "  with 
the  fact  that  you  dined  with  Hancock  Brown  the  other 
evening?  " 

Fowler  tapped  his  foot  softly  on  the  rug,  but  did  not 
reply.  Enoch  went  on.  "  I  don't  want  to  quarrel  with 
you,  Fowler.  I'm  a  sincere  admirer  of  yours.  But  I'm 
going  to  tell  you  frankly,  that  I  don't  like  Brown  and 
that  Brown  must  keep  his  tongue  off  of  me.  And  I'm 
deeply  disappointed  in  you.  You  did  not  need  Brown 
to  add  to  your  prestige  in  America." 

"  I  don't  know  what  the  idea  is,  Fowler,"  said  the 
President  suddenly,  "  but  I  do  know  that  the  aplomb  and 
finesse  with  which  you  conduct  your  official  business  are 
entirely  lacking  in  this  affair.  It  looks  to  me  as  if  you 
had  a  personal  grievance  here.  Come,  Fowler,  old  man, 
you  are  too  brilliant,  too  valuable — " 

The  Secretary  of  State  interrupted  by  bowing  once 
more.  "  I  very  much  appreciate  my  scolding,  Mr.  Presi- 


CURLY'S  REPORT  309 

dent.  With  your  permission,  I'll  withdraw  until  you 
feel  more  kindly  toward  me." 

The  President  and  Enoch  did  not  speak  for  several 
minutes  after  Fowler  had  left.  Then  the  President  said, 
"  Enoch,  how  are  you  going  to  handle  Brown  ?  " 

"  I  haven't  fully  made  up  my  mind/'  replied  Enoch. 

"  The  bitterest  pill  you  could  make  him  swallow  would 
be  to  put  yourself  in  the  White  House  at  the  next  elec 
tion." 

"  I'm  afraid  Brown  would  look  on  that  as  less  a  pun 
ishment  than  a  misfortune."  Enoch  smiled,  as  he  rose 
and  said  good  night. 

Nearly  a  month  passed  before  Enoch  heard  from 
Cheney.  During  that  time  neither  from  Fowler  nor 
from  the  Brown  papers  was  there  any  intimation  of  con 
sciousness  of  Enoch's  existence.  He  believed  that  as 
long  as  he  chose  to  remain  silent  on  the  Mexican  situa 
tion  that  they  would  continue  to  ignore  him.  There 
could  be  little  doubt  that  both  Brown  and  the  public 
looked  on  Enoch's  sudden  silence  following  the  Lnigi 
statement  as  complete  rout.  Enoch  knew  this  and 
writhed  under  the  knowledge  as  he  bided  his  time. 

On  a  morning  early  in  January,  Charley  Abbott  an 
swered  a  telephone  call  which  interrupted  him  while  was 
taking  the  Secretary's  dictation. 

"  It's  Mr.  Cheney ! ''  he  said.  "  He's  very  anxious  to 
see  you  for  ten  minutes,  Mr.  Secretary." 

"  Crowd  him  in,  Abbott,"  replied  Enoch. 

Abbott  nodded,  and  in  less  than  half  an  hour  the  di 
rector  of  the  Survey  came  in. 

"  Mr.  Secretary,"  he  began  without  preliminaries,  "  I 
took  your  advice  and  began  investigating  the  trouble 
spots.  Among  other  steps  I  took,  I  detached  two  men 
temporarily  from  a  Colorado  River  expedition  and  sent 
them  into  Texas  to  discover  if  possible  what  the  ordi 
nary  oil  prospectors  felt  toward  the  Survey." 

Enoch's  face  brightened.  '  That  was  an  interesting 
move!"  he  exclaimed.  "Were  these  experienced  oil 
men?" 


310          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  One  of  them,  Harden,  knew  something  of  drilling. 
Well,  they  struck  up  some  sort  of  a  pseudo  partnership 
with  a  man,  a  miner,  name  Field,  and  the  three  of  them 
undertook  to  locate  some  wells  in  southern  Texas.  They 
were  near  the  Mexican  border  and  were  heckled  con 
stantly  by  bands  of  Mexicans.  Finally,  as  the  man  Field, 
Curly,  Harden  calls  him  in  his  report,  was  standing  guard 
over  the  horses  one  night,  he  was  shot  through  the  abdo 
men.  Three  days  later,  he  died." 

"  Died!  "  exclaimed  Enoch.     "  Are  you  sure  of  that?  " 

"  So  Harden  reports.  Field  knew  that  his  wound 
was  fatal.  He  was  perfectly  cool  and  conscious  to  the 
last,  and  he  spent  the  greater  part  of  the  period  before 
his  death,  dictating  to  Harden  a  long  story  about  Han 
cock  Brown's  early  activities  in  Mexico.  He  swore 
Harden  to  absolute  secrecy  as  to  details  and  made  him 
promise  to  send  the  story  to  some  lawyer  here  in  Wash 
ington,  who  seems  to  have  taken  a  small  portion  of  the 
Canyon  trip  with  the  expedition  and  who  had  prospected 
with  Field." 

"And  Curly  Field  is  dead!"  repeated  Enoch. 

"  Yes,  poor  fellow !  Now  then,  here's  the  point,  both 
Harden  and  Forrester,  the  other  Survey  man,  are  mor 
ally  certain  that  there  is  a  well-organized  gang  whose 
business  is  to  make  oil  prospecting  on  the  border  un 
healthy.  They  have  several  lists  of  names  they  want 
investigated,  and  they  suggest  that  Secret  Service  men 
be  put  on  the  job,  at  once.  There  was  a  small  item  in 
Texas  papers  about  the  killing  and  a  New  York  paper 
was  after  me  this  morning  for  the  story.  That's  why  I 
hurried  to  you." 

"  Did  you  gather  that  Field's  story  had  anything  to 
do  with  the  present  trouble  with  Mexico?  "  asked  Enoch. 

The  Director  shook  his  head.  "  No,  Mr.  Secretary.  I 
merely  brought  that  detail  in  because  Brown  is  known  to 
be  your  enemy  and — " 

He  hesitated  as  he  saw  the  grim  lines  deepening  around 
Enoch's  mouth.  The  Secretary  tapped  the  desk  thought 
fully  with  his  pencil,  then  said: 


CURLY'S  REPORT  311 

"  Keep  it  all  out  of  the  papers,  Mr.  Cheney,  if  you 
please.  Or,  rather  if  you  are  willing,  let  the  publicity 
end  be  handled  from  this  office.  Send  the  newspaper  men 
to  Mr.  Abbott." 

"  That  will  be  a  relief !  "  exclaimed  Cheney.  "  Shall 
I  go  ahead  on  the  lines  indicated?  " 

:<  Yes,  and  bring  me  your  next  budget  of  news !  " 

As  Cheney  went  out,  Enoch  rang  for  Jonas.  "  Jonas, 
I  wish  you'd  go  home  and  see  if  there  is  any  mail  there 
for  Judge  Smith.  If  there  is,  lock  it  in  the  desk  in  my 
room,"  tossing  Jonas  the  key. 

"  Yes,  Mr.  Secretary,"  exclaimed  Jonas,  disappear 
ing  out  the  door.  He  returned  shortly  to  report  that 
mail  had  arrived  for  Judge  Smith,  and  that  it  was  safely 
locked  away. 

Enoch  had  no  engagement  that  evening.  When  he 
had  finished  his  solitary  dinner  he  went  to  his  room  and 
took  out  of  the  desk  drawer  a  large  document  envelope 
and  a  letter.  The  letter  he  opened. 

"  My  dear  Judge :  Forrester  and  I  have  just  com 
pleted  a  sad  bit  of  work,  the  taking  of  poor  Curly's  body 
back  to  Arizona  for  burial.  Soon  after  you  left,  we 
took  Milton  over  to  Wilson's  ranch  and  left  Ag  to  look 
out  for  him.  He's  coming  along  fine,  by  the  way.  We 
wired  our  dilemma  to  our  Chief  in  Washington  and  he 
told  us  to  go  into  southern  Texas  and  investigate  some 
conditions  there  for  him.  To  our  surprise,  Curly  wanted 
to  go  along,  as  soon  as  he  found  we  were  later  going  into 
Mexico  to  an  old  stamping  ground  of  his.  Well,  we 
had  a  great  time  on  the  Border.  It  wasn't  so  bad  until 
the  hombres  began  to  get  nasty,  and  as  you  may  recall, 
neither  Curly  nor  my  now  good  pal  Forr  stand  well  un 
der  sniping.  It  got  so  finally  that  we  had  to  stand  watch 
over  our  outfit  at  night,  and  Curly  got  a  bullet  in  his 
bladder.  He  bled  so  we  couldn't  move  him  and  Forr 
went  out,  thirty  miles,  after  a  doctor.  While  we  waited, 
Curly  got  me  to  set  down  the  stuff  I  am  sending  you 
under  separate  cover.  He  also  made  his  will  and  left 


312         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

you  his  mining  claims,  all  merely  prospects  so  far.  He 
says  you  know  how  he  came  to  feel  as  he  does  about 
Brown  and  Fowler.  However  that  may  be,  it  certainly 
is  the  dirtiest  story  I  ever  heard  one  man  tell  on  others 
and,  dying  though  he  was,  I  begged  Curly  to  let  me  tear 
the  paper  up  and  let  the  story  go  into  the  grave  with 
him.  But  he  held  me  to  my  promise,  so  I'm  sending  it 
to  you,  with  this  apology  for  contaminating  either  of 
us  with  the  dope.  Poor  old  Curly!  He  was  a  man 
who'd  been  a  little  embittered  by  some  early  trouble,  but 
he  was  a  good  scout,  for  all  that. 

"  We  all  missed  you  and  Jonas, —  don't  forget  Jonas ! 
—  very  much,  after  you  left.  Milton  said  half  a  dozen 
times  that  when  he  gets  in  shape  to  go  on  with  the  work 
in  the  spring,  he  was  going  to  try  to  persuade  you  to 
finish  the  trip  with  us.  So  say  we  all!  With  best 
wishes,  sincerely  yours,  C.  L.  Harden." 

After  Enoch  had  finished  Harden's  letter  he  replaced 
it  in  its  envelope  slowly  and  dropped  it  into  the  desk 
drawer.  Next,  as  slowly,  he  picked  up  the  bulkier  en 
velope  and  placed  it  on  edge  on  the  mantel  under  the 
Moran  painting.  Then  he  began  to  walk  the  floor. 

He  knew  that,  in  that  dingy  envelope,  lay  the  whip  by 
which  he  could  drive  Brown  to  public  apology.  As  far 
as  fearing  any  publicity  with  which  Brown  could  re 
taliate,  Enoch  felt  immune.  He  believed  that  he  had 
sounded  the  uttermost  depths  of  humiliation.  And  at 
first  he  gloated  over  the  thought  that  now  Brown  could 
be  made  to  suffer  as  he  had  suffered.  He  would  give 
the  story  to  the  newspapers,  exactly  as  it  had  come  to 
him.  And  what  a  setting!  Curly  shot  from  ambush, 
by  creatures,  it  was  highly  probable,  who  were  ignorantly 
actuated  by  Brown's  own  crooked  Mexican  policy. 
Curly  flinging,  with  his  dying  hands,  the  boomerang  that 
was  to  strike  Brown  down.  That  incidentally  it  would 
pull  Fowler  down,  moved  Enoch  little.  Fowler  too 
would  be  hoist  by  his  own  petard. 

For  a  long  hour  Enoch  paced  the  floor.     Then  he 


CURLY'S  REPORT  313 

came  to  a  sudden  pause  before  the  mantel  and  turned  on 
the  light  above  the  painting  of  Bright  Angel  trail.  Out 
side  the  room  sounded  the  clatter  of  Washington's 
streets.  Enoch  did  not  hear  it.  Once  more  a  passionate, 
sullen  boy,  he  was  clinging  to  his  mule  on  the  twisting 
trail.  Once  more  swept  over  him  the  horror  of  the  Can 
yon  and  of  human  beings  that  had  tortured  the  soul  of 
the  boy,  Enoch,  on  that  first  visit  into  the  Canyon's 
depths.  The  sweat  started  to  his  forehead  and,  as  he 
stared,  he  grasped  the  mantel  with  both  hands.  Then 
he  picked  up  the  envelope.  His  hand  shook  as  he  in 
serted  a  finger  under  the  flap,  lifting  his  eyes  as  he  did 
so,  once  more  to  the  painting. 

He  paused.  Unearthly  calm,  drifting  mists,  colors  too 
ephemeral,  too  subtle  for  words  —  drawn  in  the  Canyon ! 

The  lift  of  the  Ida  under  his  knees,  the  eager  welter 
of  the  whirlpool,  the  sting  of  the  icy  Colorado  dragging 
him  under,  the  flash  of  Diana's  face  and  his  winning 
fight  with  death. 

The  chaos  of  the  river  and  two  tiny  figures  staggering 
hour  after  hour  over  the  hopeless,  impossible  chasms  and 
buttes;  Harden  going  to  the  rescue  of  Forrester. 

Starlight  on  the  desert.  Diana's  touch  on  his  fore 
head,  her  tender,  gentle  fingers  smoothing  his  hair  as 
they  gazed  together  at  the  mysterious  shadowy  depth 
beyond  which  flowed  the  Colorado;  that  tender  touch  on 
his  hair  and  forehead  and  the  desert  stars  thrilling  near, 
infinitely  remote. 

Suddenly  Enoch,  resting  his  arm  on  the  mantel, 
dropped  his  forehead  upon  it  and  stood  so,  the  wonderful 
glowing  colors  of  the  painting  seeming  to  shimmer  on 
his  bronze  hair.  At  last,  at  the  sound  of  Jonas's  foot 
step  in  the  hall,  he  lifted  his  head,  turned  off  the  light 
above  the  painting,  crossed  to  his  desk  and,  dropping 
the  still  unopened  envelope  into  a  secret  drawer,  locked 
it  and  put  the  key  in  his  pocket. 

The  following  morning  Senator  Havisham  came  to 
see  Enoch.  He  was  one  of  the  leading  members  of 
Enoch's  party,  a  virile,  progressive  man,  very  little  older 


THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

than  the  Secretary  himself.  After  shaking  hands  with 
Enoch  and  taking  one  of  his  cigars,  he  sat  staring  at  him 
as  if  he  scarcely  knew  how  to  begin. 

Enoch  smiled  half  sadly.  "  Go  ahead,  Senator,"  he 
said.  '  You  and  I  have  known  each  other  a  long 
time." 

The  Senator  smiled  in  return.  "  Yes,  we  have,  Hun 
tingdon,  and  I'm  proud  of  the  fact.  That  is  why  I  was 
asked  to  undertake  this  errand  which  has  an  unpleasant 
as  well  as  a  pleasant  side.  We  want  you  to  run  as  our 
presidential  nominee.  But  before  we  pass  the  word 
around,  we  want  you  to  issue  a  denial  of  the  Brown 
canard  that  \vill  settle  that  kind  of  mud  slinging  at  you 
for  good  and  all." 

Enoch's  face  was  a  cold  mask.  "  I  can't  deny  it, 
Havisham.  The  facts  stated  are  true.  The  inferences 
drawn  as  to  my  character  are  false.  The  bn'nging  of 
Miss  Allen  into  the  story  was  a  blasphemy.  All  things 
considered,  as  far  as  publicity  goes,  utter  silence  is  my 
only  recourse.  As  for  my  private  retaliation  on  Brown, 
that's  another  and  a  personal  matter." 

Senator  Havisham  looked  at  Enoch  through  half -shut 
eyes. 

"  Huntingdon,  let  me  issue  that  statement,  exactly  as 
you  have  made  it." 

"  No,"  replied  Enoch  flatly.  "  The  less  reference  made 
by  us  to  the  Brown  canard,  the  better  chance  of  its  being 
forgotten." 

The  Senator  puffed  silently,  then  said,  "  Why  does 
Brown  hate  you  ?  " 

"  I  have  fought  his  Mexican  policy." 

"  Yes,  I  know,  but  is  that  the  only  reason?  " 

"  As  far  as  my  knowledge  goes,"  replied  Enoch.  "  Of 
course,  now  that  he's  openly  committed  to  Fowler,  he  has 
an  added  grievance." 

"  There  is  nothing  personal  between  you  ?  " 

"  I  never  laid  eyes  on  the  man  in  my  life.  I  never 
did  him  an  intentional  injury.  I  am  merely  in  his  way. 
I  always  have  despised  his  papers  and  now  I  despise  him. 


CURLY'S  REPORT  315 

Understand,  Senator,  that,  without  regard  to  diplomacy, 
Brown  and  I  must  have  it  out." 

Havisham  shook  his  head.  "  You'd  better  let  him 
alone,  Huntingdon.  He  has  an  awful  weapon  in  his 
papers  and  he  can  smear  you  in  the  public  mind  no  mat 
ter  how  obviously  false  his  stories  may  be." 

Enoch's  lips  tightened.  "  I'm  not  afraid  of  Brown. 
But  all  things  considered,  Havisham,  you'd  better  leave 
me  out  of  your  list  of  presidential  possibilities." 

"  There  is  no  list !  Or,  at  least,  you're  the  list !  "  The 
Senator's  laugh  was  a  little  rueful. 

"  And,"  Enoch  went  on,  "  strange  as  it  may  seem,  I'm 
not  sure  that  I  want  the  Presidency.  It  seems  to  me 
that  I  might  be  far  more  useful  in  the  Capitol  than  in  the 
White  House." 

"  Not  to  the  party !  "  exclaimed  Havisham  quickly. 
"  No,  to  the  country !  " 

"  Perhaps,  but  it's  a  debatable  matter,  which  I  don't 
intend  to  debate.  You  are  our  man.  If  you  won't 
deny  the  Brown  canard,  then  we  must  go  ahead  without 
the  denial." 

Enoch  looked  thoughtfully  from  the  window,  then 
turned  back  to  the  Senator.  "  There  is  no  great  hurry,  i^ 
ihere  ?  Give  me  a  month  to  get  matters  clear  in  my  own 
mind." 

"  There  is  no  hurry,  except  that  the  Brown  papers 
work  while  others  sleep,  and  Fowler  is  Brown's  nom 
inee.  However,  take  your  month,  old  man.  I  don't 
doubt  that  you  have  troubles  of  your  own !  " 

Enoch  nodded.  Havisham  shook  hands  heartily  and 
departed,  and  the  Secretary  turned  to  his  loaded  desk. 
The  Alaskan  situation  was  causing  him  keen  anxiety. 
The  old  war  between  private  ownership,  with  all  its 
greed  and  unfairness  to  the  common  citizen,  and  govern 
ment  control,  with  all  its  cumbersome  and  often  ineffi 
cient  methods,  had  reached  acute  proportions  in  the  great 
northern  province.  Enoch  was  faced  with  the  necessity 
of  deciding  between  the  two.  It  must  be  a  long  distance 
decision  and  any  verdict  he  rendered  was  predestined 


316         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

to  have  in  it  elements  of  injustice.  For  days  Enoch 
thrust,  as  far  as  possible,  his  personal  problem  into  the 
background  while  he  struggled  with  this  greater  one.  It 
was  only  at  night  that  the  thought  of  Diana  overwhelmed 
all  else  to  torture  him  and  yet  to  fill  him  with  the  joy 
of  perfect  memories. 

It  was  on  the  morning  after  he  had  given  his  Alaskan 
decision  that  Charley  Abbott,  eyebrows  raised,  laid  a 
Brown  paper  before  the  Secretary,  with  the  comment: 

"  Either  Cheney  or  some  one  in  Cheney's  office  has 
leaked." 

It  was  a  twisted  story  of  Curly's  death.  Curly,  accord 
ing  to  this  version,  had  been  doing  his  utmost  to  keep 
two  Survey  men,  Harden  and  Forrester,  from  hogging 
for  obscure  government  purposes,  certain  oil  lands,  be 
longing  to  Curly.  In  the  ill  feeling  that  had  resulted, 
Curly  had  been  shot.  Before  his  death,  however,  he  had 
been  able  to  write  a  statement  of  the  affair  which  had 
been  sent  to  a  well-known  lawyer  in  Washington.  He 
also  had  left  sufficient  property  to  the  lawyer  to  enable 
him  to  expose  the  workings  of  the  Geological  Survey  to 
its  bones. 

Enoch's  face  reddened.  "  I  don't  know  what  there  is 
about  a  piece  of  work  like  this  that  gets  under  my  skin 
so  intolerably !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  Whether  it's  the  cruelty 
of  it,  or  the  dishonesty  or  the  brute  selfishness,  I  don't 
/mow.  But  we  are  going  to  answer  this,  Abbott." 

"  How  shall  we  go  about  it,  sir?  \Ve  might  find  out 
if  Cheney  knows  these  men  personally  and  have  him 
make  a  statement." 

"  Have  him  tell  of  their  previous  records,"  said  Enoch. 
"  Let  the  world  know  the  heroism  and  the  self-sacrifice 
of  those  men.  And  at  the  end  let  him  give  the  lie  direct 
to  the  Brown  papers.  Tell  him  I'll  sign  it  for  him." 

"  That  will  give  Brown  just  the  opening  he's  looking 
for,  Mr.  Secretary,  I'm  afraid,"  said  Abbott,  doubtfully, 
"  I  mean,  your  signature." 

"  I'm  ready  for  Brown,"  replied  Enoch  shortly 


CURLY'S  REPORT  317 

Still  Charley  hesitated.  "  What  is  it,  Abbott?  "  asked 
the  Secretary. 

"  It's  Miss  Allen  I'm  thinking  about/'  blurted  out  the 
younger  man.  "  You've  gone  through  the  worst  that 
they  can  hand  to  a  man,  so  you've  nothing  more  to  fear. 
But  if  they  bring  her  into  it  again,  Mr.  Secretary,  I'll 
go  crazy !  " 

The  veins  stood  up  on  Enoch's  forehead,  and  he  said, 
with  a  cold  vehemence  that  made  Abbott  recoil,  "If 
Miss  Allen's  name  is  brought  up  with  mine  in  that  man 
ner  again,  I  shall  kill  Brown." 

Charley  moistened  his  lips.  "  Well,  but  after  all,  Mr. 
Huntingdon,  Harden  and  Forrester  are  just  a  couple  of 
unknown  chaps  Is  your  championing  them  worth  the 
risk  to  Miss  Allen?  " 

"  Miss  Allen  would  be  the  last  person  to  desire  that 
kind  of  shielding.  I've  reached  my  limit,  Abbott,  as  far 
as  the  Brown  papers  are  concerned.  They've  got  to 
keep  their  foul  pens  off  the  Department  of  the  Interior. 
I'd  a  little  rather  kill  Brown  than  not.  Why  should  de 
cent  citizens  live  in  fear  of  his  dirty  newsmongers?  Life 
is  not  so  sweet  to  me,  Abbott,  nor  the  future  so  full  of 
promise  that  I  greatly  mind  sacrificing  either." 

"  It's  just —  it's  just  that  I  care  so  much  about  Miss 
Allen,"  reiterated  Charley,  miserably  and  doggedly. 

Enoch  drew  a  quick  breath.  The  two  men  stared  at 
each  other,  pain  and  hopelessness  in  both  faces.  Enoch 
recovered  himself  quickly. 

"I'm  sorry,  my  boy,"  he  said  gently,  "but  life,  par 
ticularly  public  life,  is  full  of  bitter  situations  like  this. 
Brown  must  be  stopped  somewhere  by  somebody.  Let's 
not  count  the  cost.  Get  in  touch  with  Cheney  and  have 
that  statement  ready  for  the  morning  paper." 

He  turned  back  to  his  letters  and  Abbott  left  the  room. 
Before  he  went  home  that  night,  Enoch  had  signed  the 
very  readable  account  of  some  of  Harden's  ,and  For 
rester's  exploits  in  the  Survey  and  had  added,  before 
signing,  a  line  to  the  effect  that  the  slurs  and  insinuations 


318          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

regarding  the  two  men  which  had  appeared  in  the  morn 
ing  papers  were  entirely  untrue. 

For  several  days  there  was  no  reply  from  the  Brown 
camp.  Enoch's  friends  commented  to  him  freely  on  his 
temerity  in  deliberately  drawing  Brown  on,  but  Enoch 
only  smiled  and  shrugged  his  shoulders,  while  Curly's 
statement  lay  unopened  in  his  drawer.  But  underneath 
his  calm,  the  still  raw  wound  of  Brown's  earlier  attack 
tingled  as  it  awaited  the  rubbing  in  of  the  salt. 

Finally,  one  morning,  Charley  laid  a  Brown  paper  on 
Enoch's  desk.  The  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  said  the 
account,  had  denied  the  truth  of  certain  statements  made 
by  the  publication.  A  repetition  of  the  story  followed. 
A  careful  reinvestigation  of  the  facts,  the  account  went 
on,  showed  the  case  to  be  as  originally  stated.  The  well- 
known  lawyer  had  been  interviewed.  He  had  told  the 
reporter  that  the  contents  of  Field's  letter  were  surpris 
ing  beyond  wrords  and  that  as  soon  as  he  had  made  full 
preparations  some  arrests  would  follow  that  would  startle 
the  country.  The  lawyer,  whose  name  was  withheld  for 
obvious  reasons,  was  a  man  whose  integrity  was  beyond 
question.  Fie  had  no  intention  of  using  the  funds  willed 
him  by  Field,  for  he  and  Field  had  grown  up  together 
in  a  little  New  England  town.  The  money  would  be 
put  in  trust  for  Field's  son,  who  would  be  sent  to  college 
with  the  lawyer's  own  boy.  In  the  meantime,  the  Secre 
tary  of  the  Interior  would  not  be  beyond  a  most  respect 
ful  and  discriminating  investigation  himself.  It  was 
known  that  he  had  cut  short  an  unsuccessful  speaking 
tour  for  very  good  reasons,  and  had  disappeared  into  the 
desert  country  for  a  month.  Where  had  he  been  ? 

Enoch  suddenly  laughed  as  he  laid  the  paper  down. 
"  It  is  so  childish,  so  preposterous,  that  even  a  fool 
wouldn't  swallow  it!"  he  exclaimed. 

"  It's  just  the  sort  of  thing  that  people  swallow  whole," 
returned  Abbott. 

"  Even  at  that,  it's  absolutely  unimportant,"  said  Enoch. 
Again  Charley  disagreed  with  him.  "  Mr.  Secretary, 
it's  very  important,  for  it's  a  threat.  It  says  that  if  you 


CURLY'S  REPORT  319 

don't  keep  still,  they  will  investigate  your  desert  trip. 
And  you  know  what  they  could  make  of  that !  " 

"  Let  them  keep  their  tongues  off  my  Department, 
then,"  said  Enoch,  sternly.  Nevertheless  when  Abbott 
had  left  him  alone  he  did  not  turn  immediately  to  his 
work.  His  cigar  grew  cold,  and  the  ink  dried  on  his 
pen,  while  he  sat  with  the  look  of  grim  determination  in 
his  eyes  and  lips,  deepening. 

He  dined  out  that  night  and  was  tired  and  depressed 
when  he  returned  home.  Jonas  was  smiling  when  he  let 
the  Secretary  in  and  took  his  coat. 

"  Boss,  they's  a  nice  little  surprise  waiting  for  you 
up  on  your  desk." 

"  Who'd  be  surprising  me,  Jonas?  No  one  on  earth 
but  you,  I'm  afraid." 

Jonas  chuckled.  "  You're  a  bad  guesser,  boss !  A  bad 
guesser!  How  come  you  to  think  I  could  do  anything 
to  surprise  you?  " 

Enoch  went  into  his  brightly  lighted  room  and  stopped 
before  his  desk  with  a  low  exclamation  of  pleasure.  A 
large  photograph  stood  against  the  book  rack.  Three 
little  naked  Indian  children  with  feathers  in  their  hair 
were  dancing  in  the  foreground.  Behind  them  lay  an 
ancient  cliff  dwelling  half  in  ruins.  To  the  left  an  In 
dian  warrior,  arms  folded  on  his  broad  chest  stood  watch 
ing  the  children,  his  face  full  of  an  inscrutable  sadness. 
The  children  were  extraordinarily  beautiful.  Diana  had 
worked  with  a  very  rapid  lens  and  had  caught  them  atilt, 
in  the  full  abandonment  of  the  child  to  joy  in  motion. 
The  shadowed,  mysterious,  pathetic  outline  of  the  cliff 
dwelling,  the  somber  figure  of  the  chief  only  enhanced 
the  vivid  sense  of  motion  and  glee  in  the  children.  The 
picture  was  intrinsically  lovely  even  without  that  haunt 
ing  sense  of  the  desert's  significance  that  made  Diana's 
work  doubly  intriguing. 

Enoch's  depression  dropped  from  him  as  if  it  had 
never  been.  "  Oh,  my  dearest !  "  he  murmured,  "  you 
did  not  forget,  did  you!  It  is  your  very  self  you  have 
sent  me,  your  own  whimsical  joyousness!  " 


320         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

Jonas  tapped  softly  on  the  door. 

"Come  in,  Jonas!  Isn't  it  fine!  How  do  you  sup 
pose  a  photograph  can  tell  so  much!  " 

"It's  Miss  Diana,  it  ain't  the  camera!"  exclaimed 
Jonas,  with  a  chuckle.  "  Na-che  says  she  ain't  never 
seen  her  when  she  couldn't  smile.  That  buck  looks  like 
that  fellow  Wee-tah.  Boss,  do  you  remember  the  night 
he  took  me  out  to  see  that  desert  charm  ?  " 

'*  Tell  me  about  it,  Jonas.  It  will  rest  me  more  than 
sleep." 

Enoch  sank  back  in  his  chair  where  he  could  face  the 
photograph,  and  Jonas  established  himself  on  the  hearth 
rug  and  told  his  story  with  gusto.  "  I  got  a  lot  of  faith 
in  Injun  charms,"  he  said,  when  he  had  finished. 

'  They  didn't  get  us  our  trip  down  Bright  Angel," 
sighed  Enoch,  even  as  he  smiled. 

"We'll  get  it  yet,  see  if  we  don't!"  protested  Jonas 
stoutly.  "  Na-che  and  I  ain't  give  up  for  a  minute. 
Don't  laugh  about  it,  boss." 

"  I'm  not  laughing,"  replied  Enoch  gravely.  "  I'm 
thinking  how  fortunate  I  am  in  my  friends,  you  being 
among  those  present,  Jonas." 

"  As  I  always  aim  to  be,"  agreed  Jonas.  "  Do  you 
think  you  could  maybe  sleep  now,  boss?  " 

"  Yes,  I  think  so,  Jonas,"  and  Enoch  was  as  good  as 
his  word. 

Nearly  two  weeks  passed  before  the  attack  on  the  De 
partment  of  the  Interior  was  renewed.  This  time  it  was 
a  deliberate  assault  on  Enoch's  honesty.  The  Alaskan 
decision  served  as  a  text.  This  was  held  up  as  a  model 
of  corruption  and  an  example  of  the  type  of  decision  to 
be  expected  from  a  gambling  lawyer.  Followed  a  list  of 
half  a  dozen  of  Enoch's  rulings  on  water  power  control, 
on  forest  conservation  and  on  coal  mining,  each  one  in 
terpreted  in  the  light  of  Enoch's  mania  for  gambling.  A 
man,  the  article  said  in  closing,  may,  if  he  wishes,  take 
chances  with  his  own  fortune  or  his  own  reputation,  but 
what  right  has  he  to  risk  the  public  domain  ? 

Several  days  went  by  after  the  appearance  of  this  edi- 


CURLY'S  REPORT  321 

fying  story,  but  Enoch  made  no  move.     Then  the  Presi 
dent  summoned  him  to  the  White  House. 

"Enoch,  shall  you  let  that  screed  go  unchallenged?" 
he  demanded. 

"What  can  I  say,  Mr.  President?"  asked  Enoch. 
"  And  really,  that  sort  of  thing  doesn't  bother  me  much. 
It  is  only  the  usual  political  mud  slinging.  They  are 
feeling  me  out.  They  want  more  than  anything  to  get 
me  into  a  newspaper  controversy  with  them.  I  am  go 
ing  to  be  difficult  to  get." 

"  So  I  see!  "  retorted  the  President.  "  If  you  are  not 
careful,  old  man,  people  will  begin  to  think  Brown  is 
right  and  you  are  afraid." 

Enoch  laughed.  "  I  am  not  afraid  of  him  or  any  other 
skunk.  But  also,  in  spite  of  my  red  hair,  I  have  a  good 
deal  of  patience.  I  am  waiting  for  our  friends  to  trot 
out  their  whole  bag  of  tricks." 

"  What  do  you  hear  from  Fowler  ?  "  asked  the  Presi 
dent. 

"  Nothing.  I  am  desperately  sorry  that  he  has  got 
mixed  up  with  Brown.  He  is  a  brilliant  man  and  the 
party  needs  him.  I  hope  his  attitude  toward  me  has 
made  no  break  in  the  pleasant  relationship  between  you 
and  him,  Mr.  President." 

*"  It  did  for  a  short  time.  But  we  got  together  over 
the  Dutch  Guiana  matter  and  he's  quite  himself  again. 
As  you  say,  the  party  can  ill  afford  to  lose  him.  But  a 
man  who  works  with  Brown  I  consider  lost  to  the  party, 
no  matter  if  he  keeps  the  name." 

"  Fowler  used  to  like  me,"  said  Enoch,  thoughtfully. 

"  He  certainly  did.  But  the  reason  that  Fowler  will 
always  be  a  politician  and  not  a  statesman  is  that  he  is 
still  blind  to  the  fact  that  the  biggest  thing  a  man  can  do 
for  himself  politically  is  to  forget  himself  and  work  for 
the  party." 

"You  mean  for  the  country,  do  you  not?"  asked 
Enoch. 

"  It  should  be  the  same  thing.  If  Fowler  can  get  be 
yond  himself,  he'll  be  a  statesman.  But  he's  fifty  and 


322          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

characters  solidify  at  fifty.  He's  been  a  first  rate  Secre 
tary  of  State,  because  he's  a  first  rate  international  lawyer, 
because  his  tact  is  beyond  reproach  and  because  he  is 
forced  by  the  nature  of  his  work  to  think  nationally  and 
not  personally." 

"  I'm  sorry  he's  taken  up  with  Brown,"  repeated 
Enoch.  "  There  never  was  such  a  dearth  of  good  men 
in  national  politics  before." 

"  I've  known  him  for  many  years,"  the  President  said 
thoughtfully,  "  and  I  never  knew  him  to  do  a  dishonest 
thing.  He's  full  of  horse  sen^e.  I've  heard  rumors  that 
in  his  early  days  in  the  Far  \Yest  he  got  in  with  a  bad 
crowd,  but  he  threw  them  off  and  any  one  that  knew 
details  has  decently  forgotten  them.  I've  tried  several 
times  to  speak  to  him  about  this  new  alliance  but  al 
though  he's  never  shown  temper  as  he  did  that  night 
when  you  were  here,  I  get  nowhere  with  him.  His  ideas 
for  the  party  are  sane  and  sound  and  constructive." 

"You  mean  for  the  country,  do  you  not,  sir?"  asked 
Enoch  again  with  a  smile. 

The  older  man  smiled  too.  "  Hanged  if  I  don't  mean 
both !  "  he  exclaimed. 

"  What  do  you  think  of  Havisham  as  presidential  ma 
terial  ?  "  asked  Enoch. 

"  Too  good-natured !  A  splendid  fellow  but  not  quite 
enough  chin!  By  the  way,  I  understand  you  refused  to 
commit  yourself  to  him  the  other  day." 

Enoch  rose  with  a  sigh.  "  Life  to  some  people  seems 
to  be  a  simple  aye!  aye!  nay!  nay!  proposition.  It  never 
has  been  to  me.  Each  problem  of  my  life  presents  many 
facets,  and  the  older  I  grow  the  more  I  realize  that  most 
of  my  decisions  concerning  myself  have  been  made  for 
one  facet  and  not  for  all.  This  time  I'm  trying  to  make 
a  multiple  decision,  as  it  were." 

"  I  think  I  understand,''  said  the  chief  executive. 
"  Good  night,  Enoch." 

And  Enoch  went  home  to  the  waiting  Jonas. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

REVENGE   IS    SWEET 

"  And  then,  after  that  day  on  the  Colorado  was 
ended,  after  the  agony  of  toil,  the  wrestling  with  death 
•while  our  little  boats  withstood  the  shock  of  destiny 
itself,  oh,  then,  the  wonder  and  the  peace  of  the 
night's  camp.  Rest !  Rest  at  last !  " 

—  Enoch's  Diary. 

JANUARY  slipped  swiftly  by  and  February,  with  Its 
alternate  rain  and  snow  came  on.  The  splendid  men 
tal  and  physical  poise  that  Enoch  had  brought  back  with 
him  from  the  Canyon  stood  him  in  good  stead  under  the 
pressure  of  office  business  which  never  had  been  so  heavy. 
One  morning,  late  in  February,  Cheney  came  to  see  the 
Secretary. 

"  Well,  Mr.  Cheney,  have  you  made  your  discovery?  " 
asked  Enoch. 

Cheney  nodded  slowly.  "  But  I  didn't  make  it  until 
last  night,  Mr.  Huntingdon.  I've  followed  up  all  sorts 
of  leads  that  landed  me  nowhere.  Last  night,  a  news 
paper  reporter  came  to  my  house.  He's  with  the  News 
now,  but  he  used  to  be  with  Brown.  He  came  round  to 
iearn  something  about  our  men  finding  gold  in  the  Grand 
Canyon.  He  wanted  the  usual  fool  thing,  an  expression 
of  opinion  from  me  as  Director.  As  soon  as  he  let  slip 
that  he'd  been  on  the  Brown  papers,  I  began  to  question 
him  and  I  found  that  he'd  been  fired  because  he'd  re 
fused  to  go  out  to  Arizona  and  follow  up  your  vacation 
trip.  But,  he  said,  two  weeks  ago  they  started  another 
fellow  on  the  job." 

Enoch  did  not  stir  by  so  much  as  an  eye  wink. 

"  I  thought  you  ought  to  know  this,  although,  person 
ally,  it  may  be  a  matter  of  indifference  to  you." 

323 


324          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

Enoch  nodded.  "  And  what  are  your  conclusions, 
Mr.  Cheney  ?  " 

"  That  Brown  is  determined  to  discredit  the  Depart 
ment  of  the  Interior  and  you,  until  you  are  ousted  and  a 
man  in  sympathy  with  his  Mexican  policy  is  put  in." 

"  I  agree  with  you,  entirely.  And  what  are  your 
plans?  " 

"  I  shall  stick  by  my  Bureau  until  we  lick  him.  I 
haven't  the  slightest  desire  to  desert  my  Chief.  When  I 
thought  it  was  I  they  were  after,  I  felt  differently." 

"  Thanks,  Mr.  Cheney !  Will  you  give  me  the  name 
of  the  reporter  of  whom  you  were  speaking." 

"  James  C.  Capp.     He's  not  a  bad  chap,  I  think." 

Enoch  nodded  and  Cheney  took  his  departure.  There 
"were  several  important  conferences  after  this  which 
Enoch  cleared  off  rapidly  and  with  his  usual  efficiency. 
When,  however,  Jonas  announced  luncheon,  Abbott  asked 
for  a  little  delay. 

"  Here  is  an  interesting  item  from  this  morning's 
Brown,"  he  said.  Enoch  read  the  clipping  carefully. 

"  The  visitor  to  El  Tovar,  the  rim  hotel  of  the  Grand 
Canyon  receives  some  curious  impressions  of  our  govern 
mental  prerogatives.  Recently  a  government  expedition 
down  the  Colorado  was  too  well  equipped  with  spirits 
and  had  some  severe  smash-ups.  Two  of  the  men  be 
came  disgusted  and  quit,  but  nothing  daunted,  Milton, 
the  leader  took  on  two  fugitives  from  justice  in  Utah  and 
proceeded  on  his  way.  A  week  later,  however,  there  was 
a  complete  smash-up  both  moral  and  material.  The  boats 
were  lost  and  the  expedition  disbanded.  The  expensive 
equipment  lies  in  the  bottom  of  the  Colorado.  So  much 
for  the  efficiency  and  morale  of  the  U.  S.  Geological 
Survey." 

Enoch  laughed,  but  there  was  an  unpleasant  twist  to 
his  mouth  as  he  did  it. 

"  rJjbott,"  he  said,  "  will  you  please  find  out  if  Brown 
is  in  New  York.  W'herever  he  is,  I  am  going  to  see  him, 
immediately  and  I  want  you  to  go  with  me.  No,  don't 
be  alarmed !  There  will  be  no  personal  violence,  yet." 


REVENGE  IS  SWEET  325 

The  locating  of  the  newspaper  publisher  was  a  simple 
task.  An  hour  after  lunch,  Charley  reported  Brown  as 
in  his  New  York  office. 

"  Very  well,"  said  Enoch,  "  telegraph  him  that  we  will 
meet  him  at  his  office  at  nine  to-night.  We  will  take  the 
three  o'clock  train  and  return  at  midnight." 

It  \vas  not  quite  nine  o'clock  when  Enoch  and  Charley 
entered  Hancock  Brown's  office.  The  building  was  buzz 
ing  with  newspaper  activities,  but  the  publisher's  office 
was  quiet.  A  sleepy  office  attendant  was  awaiting  them. 
With  considerable  ceremony  he  ushered  the  two  across 
the  elaborate  reception  room  and  throwing  open  a  door, 
said: 

"The  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  sir." 
A  small  man,  with  a  Van  Dyke  beard  and  gentle  brown 
eyes  crossed  the  room  with  his  hand  outstretched. 

"Mr.  Huntingdon!  this  is  a  pleasure  and  an  honor!" 
"  It  is  neither,  sir,"  said  Enoch,  giving  no  heed  to  the 
outstretched  hand. 

Brown  raised  his  eyebrow.  "  Will  you  be  seated,  Mr. 
Huntingdon?  " 

"  Not  in  your  office,  sir.  Mr.  Brown,  I  have  endured 
from  your  hands  that  which  no  man  would  think  to  make 
another  endure."  Enoch's  beautiful  voice  was  low  but 
its  resonance  filled  the  office.  His  eyes  were  like  blue 
ice.  "  I  have  remained  silent,  for  reasons  of  my  own, 
under  your  personal  attacks  on  me,  but  now  I  have  come 
to  tell  you  that  the  attacks  on  the  Department  of  the  In 
terior  and  on  my  personal  life  must  cease." 

Hancock  Brown  looked  at  Enoch  with  gentle  reproach 
in  his  eyes.  "  Surely  you  don't  want  to  muzzle  the  press, 
Mr.  Huntingdon?" 

"  We're  not  speaking  of  the  press,"  returned  Enoch. 
"  I  have  sincere  admiration  for  the  press  of  this  country." 
Brown  flushed  a  little  at  this.     4<  I  shall  continue  on 
exactly  the  line  I  have  laid  down,"  he  said  quietly. 

"  If,"  said  Enoch,  clearly,  "  Miss  Allen  is  brought  into 
your  publication  again  either  directly  or  by  implication, 
I  shall  come  to  your  office,  Mr.  Brown,  and  shoot  you. 


326         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

Abbott,  you  are  the  witness  to  what  I  say  and  to  the 
conversation  that  has  led  to  it." 

"  I  am,  Mr.  Secretary,"  said  Charley.  "  And  if  for 
any  reason  you  should  be  unable  to  attend  to  the  matter, 
I  would  do  the  shooting  for  you." 

"  This  will  make  interesting  copy,"  said  Brown. 

"  I  have  within  my  control,"  Enoch  went  on,  steadily, 
"  the  means  to  force  you  to  cease  to  put  out  lies  concern 
ing  the  Department  of  the  Interior  and  me.  I  seriously 
consider  not  waiting  for  your  next  move,  but  of  making 
use  of  this  in  retaliation  for  what  you  have  done  to  me. 
As  to  that,  I  have  reached  no  conclusion.  This  is  all  I 
have  to  say." 

Enoch  turned  on  his  heel  and  closely  followed  by 
Charley  left  the  office.  As  they  entered  the  taxicab,  Ab 
bott  said,  "  Gee,  that  did  me  more  good  than  getting  my 
salary  doubled!  I  thought  you  were  going  to  use  this 
morning's  item  as  a  text !  " 

"  You'd  better  have  Cheney  prepare  a  reply  to  that, 
for  me  to  sign,"  said  Enoch  and  he  lapsed  into  silence. 
They  went  directly  to  their  train  and  to  bed  and  the  next 
morning  office  routine  began  promptly  at  nine  as  usual. 

February  slipped  into  March.  One  cold,  rainy  morn 
ing  Abbott,  with  a  broad  smile  on  his  face,  came  in  to 
take  dictation. 

"  What's  happened,  Abbott  ?  "  asked  Enoch.  "  Some 
one  left  you  some  money?  " 

"  Better  than  that!  "  exclaimed  Charley.  "  I  dined  at 
the  Indian  Commissioner's  last  night  and  whom  do  you 
think  I  took  out?  Miss  Allen!  " 

A  slow  red  suffused  Enoch's  forehead  and  died  out. 
"  When  did  she  return  to  Washington  ? "  he  asked, 
quietly. 

"  A  day  or  so  ago.  She  is  studying  at  the  Smith 
sonian.  She  says  she'll  be  here  two  months." 

"  She  is  well,  I  hope,"  said  Enoch. 

"  She  looks  simply  glorious!  " 

Enoch  nodded.  "  Instead  of  dictating  letters,  this 
morning,  Abbott,  suppose  you  start  the  visitors  this  way. 


REVENGE  IS  SWEET  327 

Somehow,  the  thought  of  wading  through  that  pile,  right 
now,  sickens  me." 

Charley's  face  showed  surprise,  but  he  rose  at  once. 
"  Mr.  Cheney's  been  waiting  for  an  hour  out  there  with 
an  interesting  chap  from  the  western  field.  Perhaps 
you'd  better  see  them  before  I  let  the  committee  from 
California  in." 

Cheney  came  first.  "  Mr.  Secretary,  one  of  my  men  is 
in  from  Arizona.  He  is  very  much  worked  up  over 
Brown's  last  effort  and  he's  got  so  much  to  say  that  I 
thought  you'd  better  meet  him.  Incidentally,  he's  a  very 
fine  geologist." 

"  Bring  him  in,"  said  Enoch. 

The  Director  swung  open  the  door  and  moving  slowly 
on  a  cane,  Milton  came  into  the  room. 

"  Mr.  Secretary,  Mr.  Milton,"  said  Cheney.     "  He- 
then  he  stopped   with  his  mouth  open   for  Milton  had 
turned  white  and  the  Secretary  was  laughing. 
"  Judge!  "  gasped  Milton. 

Enoch  left  his  desk  and  crossing  the  room  seized  both 
Milton's  hands,  cane  and  all. 

"Milton,  old  boy,  theie's  no  man  in  the  world  I'd 
rather  see  than  you.  " 

"  Why,  are  you  two  old  friends?  "  asked  Cheney. 
"  Intimate  friends!  "  exclaimed  Enoch.     "  Cheney,  I'll 
remember  the  favor  all  my  life,  if  you'll  leave  me  alone 
with  Milton  for  a  little  while." 

"  Why  certainly !  Certainly !  I  didn't  know  Milton 
was  trying  to  spring  a  surprise  on  you.  I'll  be  just  out 
side  when  I'm  needed." 

"  Sit  down,  Milton,"  said  Enoch,  soberly,  when  they 
were  alone.  "  Don't  hold  my  deception  against  me.  I 
was  not  spying.  It  was  the  blindest  fate  in  the  world 
that  brought  me  to  the  Canyon  and  to  your  expedition." 
Milton's  freckled  face  was  still  pale.  "  Hold  it  against 
you!  Of  course  not!  But  you've  rattled  me,  Judge, — 
Mr.  Secretary." 

"  No  one  but  Abbott  knows  of  my  trip  and  he  in  bald 
est  outline.  Keep  my  secret  for  me,  old  man,  as  long  as 


328         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

you  possibly  can.     I  suppose  it  will  leak  out  eventually." 

Milton  was  staring  at  Enoch.  "  Think  of  all  we  said 
and  did!  "  he  gasped. 

"  Especially  what  we  did!  Oh,  it  was  glorious!  Glori 
ous  !  "  cried  Enoch.  "  It  did  all  for  me  that  you  thought 
it  might,  Milton.  Do  you  remember?  " 

"  Yes,  I  remember.  And  I  remember  telling  you  my 
personal  ambitions !  I'd  rather  have  cut  out  my  tongue !  " 

"  And  once  you  all  told  what  you  thought  of  Enoch 
Huntingdon !  "  The  Secretary  burst  out  laughing,  and 
Milton  joined  him  with  a  great  "  Ha !  ha !  " 

"  So  you  were  the  fugitive  from  justice,  that  joined 
my  drunken  crew,"  chuckled  Milton,  wiping  the  tears 
from  his  eyes.  "  And  I  came  over  to  try  to  put  myself 
straight  as  to  that  with  the  Big  Boss !  " 

"  The  best  part  of  it  all  is  that  excepting  Abbott  and 
Jonas  and  now  you,  not  a  living  soul  knew  it  was  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  who  took  the»trip." 

"Of  course,  there  was  Miss  Allen!''  added  Milton. 
"  Don't  forget  her !  But  she's  as  safe  as  the  Canyon 
itself  at  keeping  a  secret." 

"  How  about  the  reporter  who's  said  to  be  on  my 
trail  ?  "  asked  Enoch. 

"  He's  prowling  round  on  the  river,  running  up  an 
expense  account  twenty-three  hours  and  making  up  lies 
on  the  twenty-fourth.  Capp  told  Mr.  Cheney  that  this 
reporter,  whose  name  is  Ames,  I  believe,  was  to  write 
nothing  until  his  return  to  New  York.  Mr.  Secretary, 
can't  something  be  done  to  shut  him  off?" 

"  Yes,"  replied  Enoch,  sternly.  The  two  men  were 
silent  for  a  moment,  then  Enoch  said  with  a  sudden  light 
ing  of  his  blue  eyes.  "  Where  are  you  stopping,  old 
man,  " 

"  I  haven't  located  the  cheapest  hotel  in  Washington 
yet.  When  I  do,  that'll  be  where  I'll  stop.  You  remem 
ber  we  used  to  speak  our  minds  on  the  salaries  the  De 
partment  paid." 

"  I  remember,"  chuckled  Enoch.  "  Well,  Milton,  the 
cheapest  stopping  place  in  Washington  is  over  at  Judge 


REVENGE  IS  SWEET  329 

Smith's  place.  I  believe  you  have  the  address.  By  the 
way,  have  you  seen  Jonas?" 

"  No,  but  I  want  to,"  replied  Milton. 

Enoch  pressed  the  button,  and  Jonas'  black  head  popped 
in  at  the  door.  As  his  eyes  fell  on  Milton,  they  began 
to  bulge. 

"  The  Lord  have  mercy !  How  come  you  didn't  tell 
me,  boss—  "  he  began.  Then  he  rushed  across  the  room 
and  shook  hands.  "  Mr.  Milton,  I'd  rather  see  you  than 
my  own  brother.  Did  you  find  any  pieces  of  the  Na- 
che?" 

"  No,  Jonas,  but  I've  got  some  fine  pictures  in  my  trunk 
of  you  shooting  rapids  in  the  old  boat." 

"  No !  My  Lordy !  Where's  your  trunk,  Mr.  Mil 
ton?" 

"  Jonas."  said  Enoch,  "  you  get  Mr.  Milton's  trunk 
check  and  —  but  he  says  he's  going  to  a  hotel." 

Jonas  looked  at  Milton,  indignantly.  "  Going  to  a 
hotel !  How  come  you  to  try  to  insult  the  boss'  and  my 
house,  Mr.  Milton?  Huh!  Hotel!  Huh!" 

He  took  the  check  and  left  the  room,  still  snorting. 
Milton  rose.  "  I  mustn't  intrude  any  longer,  Mr.  Sec 
retary." 

"  Luckily  I'm  free,  to-night,"  said  Enoch.  "  We'll 
have  a  great  talk.  Ask  Cheney  to  come  in,  please." 

"  Mr.  Cheney,"  asked  Enoch,  when  Milton  had  gone, 
"  do  you  think  you  could  find  out  whether  or  not  that 
fellow  Ames  has  returned  from  Arizona  ?  " 

"  Yes,  we  can  do  that  without  much  trouble.  Was 
Milton  able  to  straighten  matters  up  with  you,  Mr.  Sec 
retary  ?  " 

"  He  didn't  have  to.  I'm  an  ardent  admirer  of  Mil 
ton's.  He's  going  to  stop  at  my  house,  while  he's  in 
Washington.  Why  don't  you  take  him  out  of  the  field 
and  begin  to  groom  him  for  your  job,  Mr.  Cheney?  He 
should  be  ready  for  it  in  a  few  years." 

Cheney  nodded.  "  He's  a  good  man.  I'll  think  it 
over.  And  I  will  telephone  Abbott  about  Ames." 

It  was  fortunate  for  Enoch  that  Milton  was  with  him 


330         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

that  evening,  for  the  knowledge  that  Diana  was  in  Wash 
ington  and  that  he  could  not  see  her  was  quite  as  agoniz 
ing  as  he  had  suspected  it  would  be.  Yet  it  was  impos 
sible  not  to  enjoy  Milton's  continual  surprise  and  pleas 
ure  at  the  change  in  the  Judge's  identity  and  it  was  a  real 
delight  to  make  once  more  the  voyage  to  the  Ferry  not 
only  for  its  own  sake  but  because  with  the  landing  at  the 
Ferry  came  much  conversation  on  the  part  of  Jonas  and 
Milton  about  Diana.  But  Enoch  did  not  sleep  well  that 
night  and  reached  his  office  in  the  morning,  heavy-eyed 
and  grim. 

Abbott,  standing  beside  the  Secretary's  desk  was  even 
more  grim.  "  Mr.  Cheney  was  too  slow  getting  us  the 
information  about  Ames,"  he  said,  pointing  to  the  news 
paper  that  lay  on  the  desk. 

Enoch  lighted  a  cigar  very  deliberately,  then  began  to 
read.  It  was  a  detailed  account  of  the  vacation  trip  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior.  It  was  written  with  devil 
ish  ingenuity,  purporting  to  show  that  Enoch  in  his  hours 
of  relaxation  was  a  thorough-going  good  fellow.  The 
account  said  that  Enoch  had  picked  up  a  mining  outfit 
made  up  of  two  notorious  gamblers.  That  the  three 
had  then  annexed  two  Indian  bucks  and  a  squaw  and  had 
slowly  made  their  way  into  the  Grand  Canyon,  ostensibly 
to  .placer  mine,  actually  to  play  cards  and  hunt.  The 
story  was  witty,  and  contained  some  good  word  pictures 
of  the  Canyon  country.  It  was  subtle  in  its  wording,  but 
it  was  from  first  to  last  an  unforgettable  smirching  of 
Enoch's  character. 

Enoch  laid  the  paper  down.  "  Abbott,"  he  said 
slowly,  "  the  time  has  come  to  act.  I  want  Mr.  Fowler, 
Mr.  Brown,  this  fellow  Ames,  or  whatever  reporter 
wrote  the  first  article  about  me  to  come  to  my  office  to 
morrow  afternoon  at  five  o'clock.  If  it  is  necessary  to 
ask  the  President  for  authority  to  bring  them  here,  I 
shall  ask  for  it." 

Abbott's  eyes  glowed.  "  Thank  God,  at  last!  "  he  ex 
claimed.  "  Shall  I  prepare  a  denial  of  this  stuff." 

"  No !     At  least  they  have  left  Miss  Allen  out.     We 


REVENGE  IS  SWEET  331 

may  be  thankful  and  let  it  stand  at  that.     Now,  start  the 
procession  in,  Abbott.     I'm  in  no  mood  to  dictate  letters." 

Enoch  threw  himself  into  the  day's  work  with  burning 
intensity.  About  three  o'clock,  he  told  Abbott  to  deny 
all  visitors  that  he  might  devote  himself  to  an  Alaskan 
report. 

"  Mr.  Milton  just  rushed  in.  Will  you  let  him  have  a 
moment?  "  asked  Charley. 

"  Yes,  but  —    '  here  Milton  came  in  unceremoniously. 

"  Mr.  Huntingdon,"  he  said,  "  I've  just  finished  lunch 
ing  with  Miss  Allen.  We  are  both  nearly  frantic  over 
this  morning's  paper.  You  must  let  us  publish  the  truth." 

"  No,"  thundered  Enoch.  "  You  know  the  Brown  pa 
pers.  If  they  discovered  what  Miss  Allen  did  for  us  all 
at  the  Ferry,  how  she  led  me  back  to  El  Tovar,  what 
would  they  do  with  it  ?  " 

Abbott  looked  from  Enoch  to  Milton  in  astonish 
ment.  Milton  started  to  speak,  but  Enoch  interrupted, 
"  You  are,  of  course,  thinking  that  I  should  have  thought 
of  that  long  before,  when  I  asked  her  to  let  me  go  back 
to  El  Tovar  with  her.  But  I  didn't!  I  had  been  in  the 
Canyon  long  enough  to  have  forgotten  what  could  be 
made  of  my  adventure  by  bad  minds.  I  was  a  cursed 
fool,  moving  in  a  fool's  paradise  and  I  must  take  my 
punishment.  If  ever  — 

Jonas  opened  the  door  from  the  outer  office.  "  The 
President,  Mr.  Secretary,"  he  said. 

Enoch  started  toward  the  telephone,  but  Jonas  spoke 
impatiently  — "  No !  No !  not  that." 

"  The  President  of  what,  Jonas!  "  asked  Abbott. 

Jonas  lifted  his  chest  and  flung  the  door  wide.  "  The 
President  of  the  United  States  of  America,"  he  an 
nounced,  and  the  President  came  in. 

Enoch  rose.  "  Don't  let  me  disturb  you,  Mr.  Secre 
tary.  I  can  wait,"  said  the  chief  executive. 

"  We  were  quite  finished,  Mr.  President.  May  I,  I 
wonder,  introduce  Mr.  Milton  to  you,  the  geologist  whom 
Brown  said  headed  the  drunken  expedition  down  the 
Colorado." 


332         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

The  President  looked  keenly  at  Milton  as  they  shook 
hands.  "  Mr.  Huntingdon  took  great  pains  to  deny  that 
story,  publicly,"  he  said.  "  Can't  you  persuade  him,  Mr. 
Milton,  to  do  as  much  for  himself,  to-day." 

"That's  exactly  why  I'm  here,  Mr.  President!"  ex 
claimed  Milton.  "But  he's  absolutely  obdurate!" 

Jonas  came  into  the  room  and  spoke  to  Enoch  softly. 
"  Mr.  Fowler's  office  is  on  the  outside  wire,  Mr.  Secre 
tary.  I  wouldn't  connect  in  here  while  the  President  was 
here.  Mr.  Fowler  wants  to  speak  to  you,  hisself,  before 
he  catches  a  train." 

"  I'll  go  into  your  office  to  get  it,  Abbott,"  said  Enoch. 
"May  I  detain  you,  a  moment.  Mr.  President?  Mr. 
Fowler  wants  to  speak  to  me." 

The  President  raised  his  eyebrows  with  a  little  smile. 
''Yes,  if  you  tell  me  what's  happened  to  Fowler." 

Enoch's  smile  was  twisted  as  he  went  out.  Milton  im 
mediately  began  to  speak. 

"  Mr.  President,  can't  you  make  Mr.  Huntingdon  tell 
about  his  vacation  ?  " 

The  chief  executive  shook  his  head.  "  Perhaps  it's  not 
best.  Perhaps  he  did  have  a  lapse  into  his  boyhood 
habits.  Not  that  it  makes  any  difference  to  me." 

"No!  No!  Mr.  President.  I  know — "  began 
Charley. 

But  Milton  interrupted,  "  Mr.  President,  he  was  with 
me  and  part  of  the  time  Miss  Diana  Allen,  a  wonderful 
woman,  was  with  us.  And  Mr.  Huntingdon  is  afraid 
they'll  turn  their  dirty  tongues  on  her." 

The  President's  face  lighted  as  if  he  had  received  good 
news.  "Really!  With  you!" 

"  Yes,  with  me  for  a  week  and  more.  And  I  want  to 
tell  you,  sir,  that  for  nerve  and  endurance  and  skill  in  a 
boat  and  as  a  pal  and  friend  under  life  and  death  condi 
tions  I've  never  seen  any  one  to  surpass  him.  He  scorned 
cards  while  he  was  with  us.  We  had  no  liquor.  We 
admired  him  beyond  words  and  had  no  idea  who  he  was." 

"No!"  cried  the  President,  delightedly.  "Why, 
there  must  be  a  real  story  in  this !  Go  on  with  it,  Milton ! 


REVENGE  IS  SWEET  333 

Enoch,"  as  the   Secretary  came  in,   "  I'm   winning  the 
truth  out  of  your  old  cruising  pal,  here!  " 

"  I  can't  help  it,  Mr.  Huntingdon !  "  cried  Milton  as 
Enoch  turned  toward  him  indignantly.  "  Miss  Diana 
said  this  noon  that  if  you  didn't  tell  the  story,  she  would." 
"There  you  are!"  exclaimed  the  President. 
"  Wouldn't  you  know  she'd  take  it  that  way  ?  And  on 
second  thoughts  I  think  I'd  rather  hear  the  story  from 
her  than  any  one  else." 

"  But  she  can't  tell  you  about  the  voyage,  sir,"  pro 
tested  Milton. 

"  That's  true,"  agreed  the  President.  "  I  shall  have  to 
arrange  one  of  my  choice  little  dinners  and  have  you  and 
Miss  Diana  Allen  there  to  pad  out  the  Secretary's  ac 
count."  Then,  with  a  sudden  change  of  voice,  he  walked 
over  to  Enoch  and  put  his  hand  on  the  younger  man's 
shoulder.  Abbott  nodded  to  Milton  and  the  two  slipped 
out. 

"  You  are  a  bit  twisted  about  women,  dear  old  man ! 
Come,  you  must  let  Milton  put  out  the  right  kind  of  a 
denial  of  Brown's  story." 

"  Brown  will  put  the  denial  out  for  himself,"  said 
Enoch  sternly.  "  I've  reached  my  limit.  Mr.  President, 
I  have  asked  Mr.  Fowler,  Brown,  and  the  reporter  who's 
been  maligning  me  to  come  to  my  office  to-morrow  after 
noon.  I  think  I  shall  be  able  to  settle  this  matter.  I 
would  perhaps  have  done  it  before  but  I  could  not  settle 
in  my  own  mind  just  how  I  wanted  to  go  about  it. 
Eowler  refused  to  come  until  I  told  him  the  purpose  of 
the  meeting." 

"  And  you  know  now  how  to  end  this  miserable  af 
fair?  "  asked  the  President,  wonderingly. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Enoch.  "  And  now,  Mr.  President, 
what  can  I  do  for  you  ?  " 

"  Exactly  what  you  are  doing,  Enoch.  Clear  up  this 
disgusting  matter." 

"  You  came  to  see  me  for  that,  sir?  " 

The  President  smiled.  "  You  do  not  seem  to  realize 
that  a  great  many  people,  people  who  never  saw  you,  are 


334         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

deeply  troubled  about  you.  You  do  not  belong  to  your 
self  but  to  us,  Mr.  Secretary." 

"  Perhaps  you  are  right,  sir,"  said  Enoch  humbly.  "  I 
thank  you  most  sincerely  for  coming." 

"  Will  you  come  to  me  as  soon  as  you  have  finished, 
to-morrow,  Enoch  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Mr.  President !  Abbott,  will  you  show  the 
President  out?"  Then  when  Charley  had  returned,  he 
said,  "  Abbott,  the  Secretary  of  State  will  be  here.  How 
about  Brown  ?  " 

"  He  will  be  here,"  replied  Charley.  "  I  used  the 
President's  name  pretty  freely,  but  I  think  I  finally  got 
him  curious  enough  and  worried  enough." 

Enoch  nodded.  "  Abbott,  for  the  first  time  since  I've 
been  in  this  office,  I'm  going  to  quit  early  and  go  for  a 
ride." 

"  It's  what  you  ought  to  do  every  day,"  said  Abbott. 

"  Look  here,  Abbott,  if  I  get  this  beastly  matter  settled 
to-morrow,  I  want  you  to  go  away  for  two  months'  va 
cation." 

"  Well,"  said  Charley,  doubtfully,  "  if  you  get  it  set 
tled!" 

"  Don't  let  that  worry  you,"  said  Enoch  grimly  as  he 
pulled  on  his  overcoat  and  left  the  office.  "  I'll  settle  it." 

Promptly  at  three  o'clock,  the  next  day,  Abbott  ush 
ered  three  men  into  the  Secretary's  office.  Enoch  rose 
and  bowed  to  Secretary  Eowler,  to  Hancock  Brown,  and 
to  Ames,  the  reporter.  The  last  was  a  clear  cut  young 
fellow  with  a  nose  a  little  too  sharp  and  eyes  set  a  trifle 
too  close  together. 

"If  you  will  be  seated,  gentlemen,  I'll  tell  you  the 
object  of  this  call  upon  your  time.  Mr.  Abbott,  please 
remain  in  the  room. 

"  On  the  third  of  November,  Mr.  Brown,  you  pub 
lished  in  one  of  your  evening  papers  an  article  about  me 
written  under  your  direction  by  Ames.  The  facts  in 
that  article  were  in  the  main  true.  The  deductions  you 
drew  from  them  were  vilely  false.  It  is  not,  Mr.  Brown, 
a  pleasant  knowledge  for  a  man  to  carry  through  life 


REVENGE  IS  SWEET  335 

that  his  mother  was  what  my  mother  was.  I  have  suf 
fered  from  that  knowledge  as  it  is  obviously  quite  beyond 
your  power  to  comprehend.  I  say  obviously,  because  no 
men  with  decency  or  the  most  ordinary  imagination  would 
have  dared  to  harrow  a  man's  secret  soul  as  you  har 
rowed  mine.  Even  in  my  many  battles  with  Tammany, 
my  unfortunate  birth  has  been  respected.  It  remained 
for  you  to  write  the  unwriteable. 

"  As  for  my  gambling,  that  too  is  true,  to  a  certain 
extent.  I  have  played  cards  perhaps  half  a  dozen  times 
in  as  many  years.  I  was  taught  to  play  by  the  Luigi 
whom  you  interviewed.  I  have  a  gambler's  instinct,  but 
since  I  was  fourteen  I  have  fought  as  men  can  fight  and 
latterly  I  have  been  winning  the  battle. 

"  Your  insinuations  as  to  my  adult  relationship  to  the 
underworld  and  to  women  are  lies.  And  your  dragging 
Miss  Allen  into  the  dirty  tale  was  a  gratuitous  insult 
which  it  is  fortunate  for  both  of  you,  her  father  has  not 
yet  seen.  It  happened  that  while  I  was  on  the  vacation 
recently  in  which  you  have  taken  so  impertinent  an  in 
terest,  that  I  joined  the  camp  of  two  miners.  One  of 
them,  Curly  Field,  told  me  an  interesting  story.  He 
probably  would  not  have  told  me  had  I  not  been  calling 
myself  Smith  and  had  he  not  discovered  that  I  am  a 
lawyer." 

The  smile  suddenly  disappeared  from  Brown's  face. 
"  That  fellow  Curly  always  was  a  liar,"  he  said. 

Enoch  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "  You  should  be  a 
good  judge  of  liars,  Brown.  Curly  told  me  that  Mr, 
Fowler  was  his  brother-in-law's  partner." 

Fowler  spoke,  his  face  drawn.  "  Spare  me  that  story, 
Mr.  Huntingdon,  I  beg  of  you." 

"  Did  you  beg  Brown  to  spare  me?  "  demanded  Enoch, 
sternly. 

"  Pshaw !  "  exclaimed  Brown,  "  that  is  old  stuff.  It 
couldn't  be  proved  that  we  had  anything  to  do  with  it." 

"No?"  queried  Enoch.  "What  would  you  say  to 
my  taking  the  fund  left  Judge  Smith  by  Curly  and  em 
ploying  a  first-class  lawyer  and  a  detective  to  go  on  the 


336         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

trail  of  those  mis-appropriated  funds  ?  "  Brown  did  not 
answer  and  Enoch  went  on :  "  Curly's  idea  was  to  get 
even  with  Fowler.  It  was,  in  fact,  a  type  of  mania  with 
him.  He  told  me  that  for  years  he  had  been  in  possession 
of  facts  concerning  certain  doings  of  Brown  and  Fowler 
in  Mexico,  which  if  they  were  properly  blazed  across  the 
country  would  utterly  ruin  both  of  them.  He  wanted 
to  put  me  in  possession  of  those  facts." 

Suddenly  Fowler  rose  and  went  to  stand  at  a  window, 
his  back  to  the  group  around  the  Secretary's  desk.  Enoch 
continued,  clearly  and  firmly : 

"  I  could  scarcely  believe  my  good  fortune.  Here  was 
my  chance  to  pay  Brown  in  kind." 

"  Did  Curly  give  you  the  facts  ?  "  asked  Brown,  who 
had  grown  a  little  white  around  the  mouth. 

Enoch  did  not  heed  him.  "  I  asked  Curly  if  the  story 
was  a  reflection  on  these  two  men  morally  or  financially. 
He  said,  morally ;  that  it  was  bad  beyond  words.  At  this 
point  I  weakened  and  told  him  that  I  had  no  desire  to 
display  any  man's  weakness  in  the  market  place.  And 
Curly  laughed  at  me  and  asked  me  what  mercy  Fowler 
had  shown  his  brother?  But  still  I  could  not  make  up 
my  mind  to  take  those  facts  from  Curly." 

Mr.  Brown  eased  back  in  his  chair  with  a  sneering 
smile.  Young  Ames  sat  sickly  pale,  his  mouth  open. 

"  But  when  I  left  him,"  the  calm,  rich  voice  went  on, 
"  I  told  him  that  he  could  write  down  the  story  and  send 
it  to  my  house  in  Washington.  Now  the  chances  are 
that  having  drifted  so  many  years  without  telling  it,  he 
would  have  drifted  on  indefinitely.  But  fate  intervened. 
Curly  went  to  the  Mexican  border.  Certain  gentlemen 
have  seen  to  it  that  the  Mexican  border  is  not  safe. 
Curly  was  shot  and  he  made  it  his  death-bed  duty  to  dic 
tate  this  delectable  tale  to  a  friend.  In  due  course  of 
time,  the  documenf  reached  my  house  in  Washington,  and 
here  it  is!  "  He  tapped  the  upper  drawer  of  his  desk. 

There  was  utter  silence  in  the  room  while  Enoch  lighted 
a  cigarette. 

"  Have  you  told  any  one  the  er  —  tale  ?  "  demanded 


REVENGE  IS  SWEET  337 

Brown,  hoarsely.     "  I  can  prove  that  not  a  word  of  it  is 
true!" 

"  Can  you  ?  "  Enoch  squared  round  on  him.  "  Are  you 
willing  to  risk  having  the  story  told  with  the  idea  of  dis 
proving  it,  afterward?  Isn't  your  system  of  scandal 
mongering  built  on  the  idea  that  mud  once  slung  always 
leaves  a  stain  in  the  public  mind?  And  Curly  was  an 
eye  witness.  He  is  dead,  but  I  do  not  believe  all  the 
other  eye  witnesses  are  dead.  At  any  rate  — 

Brown  suddenly  leaned  forward  in  his  chair.  "  Mr. 
Huntingdon,  I'll  give  you  my  check  for  $100,000,  if  you 
will  give  me  that  document  and  swear  to  keep  your  mouth 
shut." 

"  Your  bribe  is  not  large  enough,"  Enoch  answered 
tersely. 

"  Five  hundred  thousand !  I'll  agree  to  make  a  public 
retraction  of  everything  I  said  about  you  and  to  work  for 
you  with  all  the  power  of  my  newspapers." 

"  Not  enough !  "  repeated  Enoch,  watching  Brown's 
white  face,  keenly. 

"  What  do  you  want?  "  demanded  the  newspaper  pub 
lisher. 

"  First,"  Enoch  threw  his  cigarette  away,  "  I  want  Sec 
retary  Fowler  to  break  with  you,  absolutely  and  com 
pletely." 

''Curly  can't  implicate  me,  in  that  Mexican  affair!" 
cried  Fowler.  "  Why,  my  whole  attitude  was  one  of  dis 
approval  and  disgust.  I  told  Brown  over  and  over,  that 
he  was  a  fool  and  after  the  shooting  I  broke  with  him, 
absolutely,  for  years.  I  am  — " 

Enoch  interrupted.  "  Brown,  was  Fowler  in  on  the 
trouble?" 

"  No!  "  replied  Brown,  sullenly. 

"  I'm  very  glad  to  hear  it,"  Enoch  exclaimed.  "  Mr. 
Fowler,  as  far  as  I  am  concerned  all  that  I  learned  from 
Field  regarding  you  is  a  closed  book  and  forgotten  if 
you  will  break  with  Brown." 

"  I'd  break  with  him,  gladly,  if  he'd  cease  to  blackmail 
•me  about  the  Field  matter,"  said  Fowler.  "  Good  God ! 


338         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

How  many  of  us  are  there  who've  not  committed  sins 
that  we  never  forgive  ourselves  ?  " 

"  None  of  us!  "  said  Enoch.  "  Mr.  Fowler,  why  did 
you  break  with  me  ?  " 

"  Didn't  you  do  your  best  to  undermine  me  with  the 
President?  Didn't  you  go  to  Ambassador  Johns-Eaton 
and  tell  him — "  Here,  catching  a  curious  flickering  of 
young  Ames'  eyelids,  Fowler  interrupted  himself  to  de 
mand,  "  Or  was  that  more  of  your  dirty  work,  Ames?  " 

"Answer,  Ames!"  Enoch'?  voice  was  not  to  be  ig 
nored. 

"  Brown  paid  me  for  it,"  muttered  Ames. 

Fowler  groaned  and  looked  at  Enoch,  who  was  light 
ing  a  fresh  cigarette. 

"  Will  you  agree,  Brown,  to  an  absolute  break  with 
Fowler  and  no  come  backs?  "  asked  Enoch. 

"Yes,"  said  Brown  eagerly.     "What  else?" 

"  You  are  to  go  out  of  the  newspaper  business." 

There  was  another  silence.  Then  Brown  said,  "I'll 
not  do  it !  " 

"  Very  well,"  returned  Enoch,  "  then  the  Mexican  af 
fair  will  be  published  as  Curly  has  written  it  with  all  the 
attendant  circumstances." 

Again  there  was  silence,  with  all  the  eyes  in  the  room 
focused  on  the  pale,  gentle  face,  opposite  Enoch.  The 
noise  of  street  traffic  beat  against  the  windows.  Tele 
phones  sounded  remotely  in  the  outer  office.  For  ten 
minutes  this  was  all.  Then  Brown  in  a  husky  voice  said, 

"  Very  well !     Give  me  the  document !  " 

"  Not  at  all,"  returned  Enoch,  coolly.  "  This  docu 
ment  goes  into  my  safety  deposit  box.  In  case  of  my 
death,  it  will  be  left  to  responsible  parties.  When  you 
die,  it  will  be  destroyed.  I  am  not  a  rich  man,  Mr. 
Brown,  but  I  shall  devote  a  part  of  my  income  to  having 
you  watched;  watched  lest  indirectly  and  by  the  under 
hand  methods  you  know  so  well  you  again  attempt  to  in 
fluence  public  opinion.  After  to-morrow,  you  are 
through." 

"  To-morrow !     Impossible !  "  gasped  Brown. 


REVENGE  IS  SWEET  339 

"  Nothing  is  impossible  except  decency  to  a  man  of 
your  capacity,"  said  Enoch.  "  To-morrow  you  publish 
a  complete  denial  of  your  lies  about  me  and  this  Depart 
ment  and  then  you  are  no  longer  a  newspaper  publisher. 
That  is  all  I  have  to  say  to  you,  Mr.  Brown."  He 
pressed  a  button,  "  Jonas,  please  show  Mr.  Brown  out." 

Jonas'  black  eyes  snapped.  "  How  come  you  think 
I'd  soil  my  shadow  letting  that  viper  trail  it,  boss?  I 
never  disobeyed  you  before,  Mr.  Secretary,  but  that  trash 
can  show  hisself  out!"  and  Jonas  withdrew  to  his  own 
office,  while  Brown,  shrugging  his  shoulders,  opened  and 
closed  the  door  for  himself. 

Ames  would  have  followed  him,  but  Enoch  said,  "  One 
moment,  Ames!  What  assurance  are  you  going  to  give 
me  that  you  will  keep  your  mouth  shut  as  to  what  you've 
heard  this  afternoon?  " 

"  I  give  you  my  word,"  began  Ames,  eagerly. 

Enoch  raised  his  hand.  "  Don't  be  silly,  Ames. 
Do  you  know  that  I  can  make  serious  legal  trouble  for 
you  for  your  part  in  libelling  me  and  the  Department?  " 

"  But  Brown  said  his  lawyers  — " 

"Brown's  lawyers?  Do  you  think  Brown's  lawyers 
will  fight  for  you  now?  " 

"  No,  Mr.  Secretary,"  muttered  the  reporter. 

"  Very  well !  Keep  your  mouth  shut  and  you'll  have 
no  trouble  from  this,  but  let  me  trace  one  syllable  to  you 
and  I  shall  have  no  bowels  of  compassion.  One  word 
more,  Ames.  You  are  clever  or  Brown  would  not  have 
used  you  as  he  did.  Get  a  job  on  a  clean  paper.  There 
is  no  finer  profession  in  the  world  than  that  of  being  a 
good  newspaper  man.  Newspaper  men  wield  a  more 
potent  influence  in  our  American  life  than  any  other 
single  factor.  Use  your  talent  nobly,  not  ignobly,  Ames. 
And  above  all  things  never  tell  a  vile  tale  about  any  man's 
mother.  Don't  do  it,  Ames !  "  and  here  Enoch's  voice 
for  the  first  time  broke. 

Ames,  his  hands  trembling,  picked  up  his  hat.  His 
face  had  turned  an  agonized  red.  Biting  his  lips,  he 
made  his  way  blindly  from  the  room. 


340         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  And  now,"  said  Enoch,  "  if  you'll  leave  Mr.  Fowler 
and  me  alone  for  a  few  minutes,  Abbott,  I'll  appreciate 
it."  As  the  door  closed  after  Charley  he  said,  "  Sit 
down,  Fowler.  I'm  sorry  to  have  put  you  through  such 
an  ordeal,  but  I  knew  no  other  way." 

"  I  deserve  it,  I  guess."  Fowler  sat  down  wearily.  "  I 
was  an  unlicked  whelp  in  my  youth,  Huntingdon,  but 
though  I  got  into  rotten  company,  I  never  did  anything 
actually  crooked." 

"  I  believe  you,"  Enoch  nodded.  "  Let  the  guiltless 
throw  the  first  stone.  We  both  have  paid  in  our  heart's 
blood,  I  guess,  for  all  that  we  wrought  in  boyhood." 

"  A  thousand-fold,"  agreed  Fowler.  "  Huntingdon, 
let  me  try  to  express  my  regret  for  — " 

"Don't!"  interrupted  Enoch.  "If  you  are  half  as 
eager  as  I  am  to  forget  it  all  you'll  never  mention  it  even 
to  yourself.  But  I  do  want  to  talk  candidly  to  you  about 
our  political  aspirations.  Mr.  Fowler,  I  don't  want  to 
go  to  the  White  House !  I  have  a  number  of  reasons 
that  I  don't  think  would  interest  you  particularly.  But 
I  want  to  go  back  to  the  Senate  when  I  finish  here. 
Fowler,  if  you  were  not  so  jealous  and  so  personal  in 
your  ambitions  I  would  be  glad  to  see  you  get  the  party 
nomination." 

Fowler's  fine,  tired  face  expressed  incredulity  mingled 
with  bewilderment. 

Enoch  went  on,  "  You  and  I  are  talking  frankly  as 
men  rarely  talk  and  as  we  probably  never  shall  again. 
So  perhaps  you  will  forgive  me  if  I  make  some  personal 
comments.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  only  permanent  satis 
faction  a  man  gets  out  of  public  life  is  the  feeling  that 
he  has  added  in  greater  or  less  degree  to  the  sum  total 
of  his  country's  progress  and  stability.  I  think  your 
weakness  is  that  you  place  yourself  first  and  your  country 
second." 

"  No!  "  said  Fowler,  eagerly.  "  You  don't  understand 
me,  Huntingdon!  My  own  aim  in  life  is  to  make  my 
service  to  my  country  compensate  for  the  selfishness  and 
foolishness  of  my  youth.  My  methods  may,  as  you  say, 


REVENGE  IS  SWEET  341 

have  been  open  to  misinterpretation.  But  God  knows 
my  impulses  have  been  disinterested.  And  you  must  re 
alize  now,  Huntingdon,  that  it  has  been  the  business  of 
certain  people  to  see  that  you  and  I  misunderstand  each 
other." 

"That's  true,"  said  Enoch,  thoughtfully.  "Well,  I 
doubt  if  that  is  possible  again." 

"  It  is  absolutely  impossible!  "  exclaimed  Fowler.  "  I 
am  yours  to  command  !  " 

"  Xo,  you're  not !  "  laughed  Enoch.  "  Brown  is  fin 
ished  and  you're  your  own  man.  I  look  for  great  things 
from  you,  Fowler.  I  wanted  to  tell  you  that  and  to  tell 
you  that  in  me  you  have  no  rival." 

"  No,"  Fowler  spoke  slowly,  "  no,  because  no  one  can 
win,  no  one  deserves  to  win  the  place  in  the  hearts  of 
America  that  you  have.  Huntingdon,  your  kindness  and 
courtesy  is  the  most  exquisite  punishment  you  could  visit 
upon  me." 

Enoch  looked  quickly  from  the  Secretary  of  State  to 
the  opposite  wall.  But  he  did  not  see  the  wall.  He  saw 
a.  crude  camp  in  the  bottom  of  the  Canyon.  He  heard 
the  epic  rush  of  waters  and  the  sigh  of  eternal  winds  and 
he  saw  again  the  picture  of  Harden  fighting  his  way  up 
the  menacing  walls  to  rescue  Forrester.  It  seemed  to 
Fowler  that  the  silence  had  lasted  five  minutes  before 
Enoch  turned  to  him  with  his  flashing  smile. 

"  We  are  friends,  Fowler,  are  we  not  ?  " 

The  older  man  rose  and  held  out  his  hand.  "  Yes, 
Huntingdon,  as  long  as  we  live,"  and  he  slowly  left  the 
room. 

Enoch  sank  back  on  his  chair,  wearily,  and  opening  the 
top  drawer  of  his  desk,  took  out  the  familiar  envelope. 
The  seal  zvas  still  unbroken!  He  placed  it  in  a  heavy 
document  envelope,  sealed  this  and  wrote  a  memorandum 
on  it,  and  dropped  it  on  the  desk.  Then  for  a  long  time 
he  sat  staring  into  the  dusk.  At  last,  as  if  the  full  re 
alization  of  the  loneliness  of  his  life  had  swept  over  him 
he  dropped  his  head  on  his  desk  with  a  groan. 

"O  Diana!  Diana!" 


342          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

He  did  not  hear  the  door  open  softly.  Abbott  with 
Ames  just  behind  him,  stood  on  the  threshold.  The  two 
young  men  looked  at  each  other,  abashed,  and  Abbott 
would  have  withdrawn,  but  Ames  went  doggedly  into 
the  room. 

"  Mr.  Secretary !  "  he  said,  hesitatingly. 

Enoch  sat  erect.  Abbott  flashed  on  the  light.  "  Mr. 
Ames  insists  on  seeing  you  again,  Mr.  Huntingdon," 
Charley  spoke  hesitatingly. 

"  Come  in,  Ames,"  said  Enoch,  coldly.  "  Abbott,  see 
that  this  envelope  is  put  in  a  safe  place." 

Abbott  left  them  alone.  Ames  advanced  to  the  desk, 
where  he  stood,  his  face  eager. 

"  Mr.  Secretary,  you've  been  so  decent.  You, —  you 
• —  well,  you're  such  a  man !  I  —  I  want  to  tell  you  some 
thing  but  I  don't  know  how  you'll  take  it.  The  truth  is, 
I  believe  that  I  could  prove  that  Luigi's  mistress  was  not 
your  mother !  " 

Enoch  clutched  his  desk  and  his  face  turned  to  stone. 
"  Don't  you  think  you  went  far  enough  with  that  matter 
before?  "  he  asked  sternly. 

Ames  stumbled  on,  doggedly.  "  This  last  trip  out  West 
I  just  thought  I'd  go  down  to  Brown's  early  stamping 
grounds  and  see  what  kind  of  a  reputation  he  had  there. 
I  was  getting  a  little  fed  up  on  him  and  I  thought  it 
couldn't  hurt  me  to  have  a  little  something  on  him  against 
a  rainy  day,  as  it  were.  You  see  I  never  did  know  what 
this  Curly  Field  stuff  was,  but  it  didn't  take  me  long  to 
run  that  story  down,  even  if  it  was  a  generation  old.  Of 
course,  I  don't  know  \vhat  Curly  told  you,  but  certainly 
the  official  reports  of  the  Field  scandal  never  proved  any 
thing  on  either  Brown  or  Fowler." 

Enoch  moved  impatiently.  But  young  Ames,  standing 
rigidly  before  his  desk  exclaimed,  "  Just  a  moment  longer, 
please,  Mr.  Secretary!  Some  of  these  facts  you  know 
unless  Field  was  so  obsessed  with  the  thought  of  his 
brother's  alleged  wrongs  that  he  did  not  mention  them, 
but  I'll  state  them  anyhow.  The  mining  and  smelting 
property  that  caused  the  whole  row  was  originally  owned 


REVENGE  IS  SWEET  343 

by  an  old  timer  named  Post  who  struck  it  rich  late  in 
life,  married  and  died  soon  after,  leaving  everything  to 
his  son,  a  little  chap  named  Arthur.  This  is  the  child 
Field  was  supposed  to  have  robbed.  Little  Arthur  died 
a  couple  of  years  after  Field's  suicide  but  by  that  time 
there  was  nothing  left  of  the  property  and  no  one  paid 
any  attention  to  the  child's  death.  But  in  reading  old 
Post's  will,  something  piqued  my  curiosity.  In  the  event 
of  Arthur's  death,  the  property  was  to  go  to  old  Post's 
baby  nephew,  Huntingdon  Post." 

Enoch  knit  his  brows  quickly  but  he  did  not  speak  and 
Ames  went  on,  "  Being,  of  course,  in  a  suspicious  state 
of  mind,  it  struck  me  as  an  unusual  coincidence  that  this 
child  should  have  died,  too.  So  I  made  some  inquiries. 
It  was  difficult  to  trace  the  facts  because  there  were  no 
relatives.  Old  Post  seemed  to  have  been  just  a  solitary 
prowler,  coming  from  nowhere,  like  so  many  of  the  old 
timers.  But  finally,  I  found  an  old  fellow  in  the  back 
country  who  had  known  old  Post.  He  told  me  that  little 
Hunt  Post,  as  he  called  him,  had  been  killed  with  his 
father  and  mother  in  a  railway  accident.  I  asked  where 
they  got  the  child's  name  and  he  said  the  mother's  name 
was  Huntingdon.  He  knew  her  when  she  was  a  girl 
living  alone  with  her  father  in  the  Kanab  country,  north 
of  the  Grand  Canyon.  lie  said  her  father  died  when  she 
was  ten  or  eleven  and  a  family  named  Smith  sort  of 
brought  her  up  and  she  was  known  as  Mary  Smith.  But 
when  she  married,  she  named  the  boy  after  her  father 
who  was  a  raw  boned,  red  headed  man  named  Enoch 
Huntingdon." 

Enoch  gave  Ames  a  long  steady  look  and  the  younger 
man  relaxed  a-  little. 

"  Now,"  Ames  went  on,  "  knowing  Brown  as  I  do, 
i  wonder  if  little  Hunt  Post,  who,  like  his  mother  was 
red  headed  and  blue  eyed,  was  burned  up  in  a  railroad 
accident.  Did  Field  speak  of  the  child?  " 

Enoch  pressed  the  desk  button  and  Abbott  came. 
*'  Give  me  the  Field  envelope,  please,  Abbott." 

When  the  envelope  was  in  his  hands,  Enoch  tore  the 


344         THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

flap  up  and  began  to  read  the  close  written  pages.  When 
he  had  finished,  he  put  the  manuscript  back  with  steady 
hands.  "  Most  of  the  letter,"  he  said  quietly,  "  is  taken 
up  by  the  recital  of  Brown's  shady  moral  career  in  Mex 
ico.  At  the  end  he  speaks  of  a  Mexican  woman  with 
red  hair  and  violet  eyes  who  lived  with  Brown  for  some 
months.  She  left  to  act  as  nurse  to  little  Hunt  Post. 
Some  time  after  the  railroad  accident,  Curly  was  the 
unsuspected  witness  to  a  secret  meeting  between  this 
Anita  and  Brown.  The  woman  demanded  money  and 
Brown  demanded  proof  that  little  Hunt  was  dead.  The 
conference  ended  only  when  Anita  produced  a  box  con 
taining  the  child's  body.  Curly  did  not  know  how  much 
Brown  paid  her  or  where  she  went." 

Ames  gave  an  ugly  laugh.  "  Hoist  with  his  own  pe 
tard  !  Think  of  him  starting  me  after  the  Luigi  scandal !  " 

"  Tell  Abbott  what  you've  just  told  me,"  said  Enoch. 

He  did  not  stir  while  Ames  repeated  the  story.  Char 
ley's  eyes  blazed.  When  Ames  finished,  Charley  started 
to  speak  but  the  young  reporter  interrupted. 

"  Mr.  Secretary,  I  want  you  to  let  me  tie  up  the  loose 
ends  for  you.  We've  got  to  put  the  screws  on  Luigi  and 
I'll  take  another  trip  West." 

"  Wait  a  bit !  "  exclaimed  Charley.  "  Mr.  Secretary, 
I'm  going  to  claim  that  long  deferred  vacation.  Let  me 
spend  it  with  Ames  clearing  this  matter  up  for  you." 

Enoch  drew  a  quick  breath.  "  When  could  you  begin, 
you  two?  " 

"  Now !  "  the  two  young  men  said  together. 

Enoch  smiled.  "  Wait  until  to-morrow.  I've  more 
important  work  to-night,  and  I  want  to  go  over  every 
detail  with  you  before  you  start  out.  In  the  meantime, 
Abbott,  guard  this  envelope  as  you  would  your  life." 

"  What  won't  we  do  to  Brown !  "  exclaimed  Charley. 

"  I've  punished  Brown,"  said  Enoch.  "  He'll  never 
hurt  me  again.  As  soon  as  this  thing  is  cleared,  we'll 
forget  him." 

Again  Ames  laughed.  "  Believe  me,  he's  going  to 
be  good  the  rest  of  his  life.  Think  of  your  reading  that 


REVENGE  IS  SWEET  345 

stuff  about  little  Hunt,   Mr.   Secretary,  and  never  re 
alizing  its  import!  " 

"  God  knows,  I  didn't  want  to  read  the  story  of  an 
other  man's  ignominy !  "  said  Enoch,  earnestly,  "  and  I 
never  would  have,  had  not — "  he  paused,  then  said  as  if 
to  himself,  "  God  moves  in  a  mysterious  way,  His  won 
ders  to  perform !  " 

The  two  younger  men  stood  in  silence.  Then  Enoch 
said,  "  Thank  you,  Ames.  I'll  see  you  at  nine  o'clock 
to-morrow  morning.  Abbott,  get  the  White  House  for 
me  and  then  go  home  to  dinner." 

A  few  minutes  later  Enoch  was  speaking  to  the  Presi 
dent.  "  I  have  to  report  victory,  Mr.  President,  all 
along  the  line.  .  .  .  Yes,  sir,  it's  a  long  story  and  I  want 
to  tell  it  to  you  to-morrow,  not  to-night.  Mr.  President, 
I'm  going  to  find  Miss  Allen  and  dine  with  her,  to-night, 
if  I  have  to  take  her  from  a  state  function.  .  .  .  Yes,  you 
may  chuckle  if  you  wish.  I  thought  you'd  understand. 
.  .  .  Thank  you!  Good  night,  Mr.  President." 

Enoch  hung  up  the  receiver  and  sat  looking  at  the  floor, 
his  face  as  white  as  marble.  For  five  minutes  he  did  not 
stir,  then  he  heaved  a  great  sigh  and  the  tense  muscles 
of  his  face  relaxed.  He  tossed  back  the  hair  from  his 
forehead,  sprang  to  his  feet  and  began  to  pace  the  floor. 
After  a  short  time  of  this,  he  rang  for  Jonas. 

"  Jonas,  do  you  know  where  Miss  Diana  is  stopping?  " 

Jonas  did  not  seem  to  hear  the  question.  He  stood 
staring  at  Enoch  with  eyes  that  seemed  to  start  from 
their  sockets. 

"  My  Lordy,  boss,  what's  happened  ?  You  look  like 
I  never  hoped  to  see  you  look!  "  Then  he  paused  for  he 
could  not  express  what  he  saw  in  the  Secretary's  shining 
eyes. 

"  Jonas,  old  man,  I've  had  the  greatest  news  of  my  life, 
but  I  can't  tell  even  you,  first." 

"  Miss  Diana !  "  ejaculated  Jonas.  "  Boss,  she's  at 
the  Larson;  one  of  these  boarding  houses  that  calls  them 
selves  a  name.  Didn't  I  tell  you  Injun  charms  was 
strong?  Tell  me!  Huh!" 


346          THE  ENCHANTED  CANYON 

"  All  right,  Jonas !  I  won't  be  home  to  dinner.  Bet 
ter  sit  up  for  me  though,  for  I'll  want  to  talk  to  you." 

"  Did  I  ever  not  sit  up  for  you  ?  "  demanded  Jonas 
as  he  gave  Enoch  his  coat. 

Enoch  paced  the  floor  of  the  Larson  while  a  slatternly 
maid  went  in  search  of  Diana.  When,  a  little  pale  and 
breathless,  Diana  appeared  in  the  doorway,  Enoch  did  not 
stir  for  a  moment  from  under  the  chandelier.  Nor  did 
he  speak.  Diana  gazed  at  him  as  if  she  never  had  seen 
him  before.  His  eyes  were  blazing.  His  lips  quivered. 
He  was  very  pale. 

Suddenly,  tossing  his  hat  and  cane  to  a  chair,  he 
crossed  the  room.  He  tried  to  smile. 

"  Diana,  have  you  seen  your  friend,  the  psychologist 
yet?" 

"  No,  Enoch,  but  I  have  an  appointment  with  him  for 
next  week." 

Enoch  seized  her  hands  and  held  them  both  against  his 
heart.  "  You  need  never  see  him,  Diana.  I  have  been 
made  whole.  I  -  "  his  voice  broke  hoarsely  -  "  I  have 
something  to  tell  you.  Diana,  you  are  going  to  dine 
with  me." 

"Yes,  Enoch!" 

"  Diana !  Oh,  how  lovely  you  are !  Diana,  it's  a  won 
derful  night,  with  a  full  moon.  I  want  you  to  walk 
with  me  to  the  Eastern  Club.  I  have  something  to  tell 
you.  And  while  I'm  telling  you,  no  four  walls  must 
hem  us  in." 

Diana,  her  great  eyes  shining  in  response  to  Enoch's, 
turned  without  a  word  and  went  back  upstairs.  She 
returned  at  once,  clad  for  the  walk.  Enoch  opened  the 
street  door  and  paused  to  look  down  into  her  face  with 
a  trembling  smile.  Then  they  descended  the  steps  into 
the  moonlight  together. 

THE   END 


cP 


A     000  774  351 


